Second Chances
by daisyscrapper
Summary: Discovering he has a half sister prompts Sheppard to bring her to Atlantis. He doesn't anticipate how difficult it is for each of them to open up to each other, as well as her falling for his SIC. Evan/OC preship, Sheppard/Keller established.
1. Chapter 1

A/N: It's been a long time since I've posted. So as I'm finishing up a long Cam/Jen story, this idea of Sheppard bringing a sister to Atlantis comes into my head. I know it's been done before, but hopefully this is a little different from other stories. Chapters will be up daily, unless this baby decides to be a few weeks early. In that case, there may be a short delay :)

I didn't get a BETA because I just wanted to post something before "life as I know it" becomes insane. Please excuse the errors and my rusty writing.

* * *

Major Evan Lorne eyed his commanding officer as the meeting came to a close. Something wasn't right. Colonel John Sheppard could often be described as secretive, serious, and downright foolish when it came to taking chances. But uncertain and nervous wouldn't be the two words he'd ever use to describe him unless they were in some type of trouble off world.

Glancing around the room, he checked to see if either Woolsey or McKay were acting strangely. The way he figured it, if something was wrong, the two of them would know about it. Quite the contrary, McKay seemed unusually happy and Woolsey looked more relaxed than usual. Turning, he glanced at Ronon. Lorne had to fight a laugh. Ronon was agitated and impatiently shook his foot as he sat. Nothing new there.

Finding that odd, he decided, as always, to leave it be. It wasn't his business, unless a threat was approaching or already in the city. And despite the fact that Sheppard was an unusual commanding officer, Lorne tried to stay as professional as possible around him even though Sheppard insisted on a more relaxed atmosphere compared to that on Earth.

When Woolsey officially said they were done with business, Lorne stood up with the rest of the group. Sheppard, however, remained in his seat.

"Lorne. Ronon. And McKay. I need you to stay for a few minutes," Sheppard commanded, not looking up as he called out their names. "Ten minutes, tops."

Ronon growled as everyone else filed out. "Food's going to get cold, Sheppard." However, being a loyal friend to John, he sat back down but didn't mask his impatient glare.

"What's this about, Sheppard?" McKay whined. "For once, I'm with Ronon. If I don't eat-"

Sheppard silenced him with a look. "Ten minutes won't kill you, Rodney." He turned his head toward Lorne, who'd sat back down immediately. Lorne just returned the stare, not protesting like the other two.

"Well, at least one of you isn't crabbing about this," Sheppard muttered.

Out of character, Lorne spoke up. "What's wrong, Colonel? Is Atlantis in some sort of trouble?"

Sheppard, who'd noticed Lorne's glances throughout the meeting, eyed his second in command with respect. "No, Major. Nothing like that."

Sheppard stood up and began to walk around the room. "I should've told you all sooner. Woolsey's known since my proposal went through."

The three of them watched Sheppard as he stumbled through an explanation.

"Just spit it out, Sheppard," Ronon said.

Sheppard sat back down. "Alright," he said. "A few months back, when I was on Earth, my brother and I were contacted through my father's attorney. It's a bit complicated and not to mention a long story, but here's the condensed version."

"You're not rich anymore?" Rodney guessed.

Disgusted, Sheppard just rolled his eyes. "No, McKay. And if I was, why would that matter? Especially out here?"

Rodney shrugged. "Just guessing. Attorneys usually have bad news after someone dies… surprises with the will, estate problems-"

"Yeah, well. No. You'll be happy to know I'm still loaded, McKay."

McKay, however, didn't seem a bit happy about that.

"So what did he say?" Ronon spoke up.

"He said," Sheppard said, "it turns out I have a sister. A half sister."

Lorne's eyebrows shot up. "That's it?"

Sheppard just glared over at him. "Sorry, Lorne, but it came as a big shock to me that when I was ten, my father had a one night stand with a woman that resulted in an unplanned pregnancy."

"Sorry," Lorne quickly said. "It's just that I thought it was something more… serious." Reddening, he shook his head. "That came out callous. What I mean is that I thought something had happened to threaten the expedition or something was physically wrong with you."

Sheppard nodded, indicating he understood. "Long story short, this girl never knew my father's identity until about ten years before he passed away."

"Let me guess," Rodney smirked. "She wants to get her hands on your money?"

"For Pete's sake Rodney, enough about money," Sheppard threw his hands up. "No. She doesn't want anything. But since my father knew about her, he instructed his attorney to tell us about her in the event that he passed away. The attorney was told to wait until after the funeral."

"Sheppard," Ronon said, with a half grin. "I'm happy that you found more family. But what does this have to do with us?"

McKay expelled a laugh. "We're Sheppard's closest friends. Maybe he just wanted to tell us. Right?" Seeing Sheppard's eyes roll, McKay looked hurt. "Well, I guess not."

Sheppard looked a little apologetic. "Look, she's coming here. Tomorrow."

"Ah," Rodney said. "And now he gets to the point. Is she military, too? What do you want us to do? Check her out? Watch to see if she's out to sabotage you in some way?"

Ronon snorted while Lorne just shook his head at Rodney's comments.

"No," Sheppard said in exasperation. "She's not like that. Not at all. I mean, I don't know her very well, but she's actually coming here so that we can fix that."

"Is she military?" Lorne asked to repeat McKay's question.

"No," Sheppard said, now showing a hint of a smile. "She's a chef. A pretty good one, from what I've been told."

"Chef?" Ronon perked up at the mention of food. "You mean, a person who cooks?"

"Yes, big guy," Sheppard said. "It was my idea. I pulled a few strings and petitioned the IOA and SGC that the expedition has made many sacrifices over the last few years. I told them my idea, which was to bring her on and send more cooking supplies and a wider variety of food as a thank you to the military and civilian personal here."

"I can't believe they went for that," McKay said, amused. "Not that I'm complaining. Maybe she'll make something better than Jello for dessert."

Sheppard grinned, leaning back. "You'll be amazed, Rodney. She knows how to cook the uppity stuff that's served in five star restaurants, but she also did a lot of studying across the country at mom and pop places." He thought back to his latest visit to Earth. "She had my brother and I over… lives in Florida. Well, she did, until she sold her place to come here. But she made this incredible four layer chocolate cake..."

"Are we done here?" Ronon growled. "You're making me hungry."

Lorne, unfazed by the mentioning of food, glanced back to Sheppard. "So what exactly do you need us to do?"

"Ah, right," Sheppard said. "Lorne's right. I need the three of you to do me a favor. While she's here, I need you to look out for her. I'm not always available, so if I'm in meetings, off world, on duty, just keep an eye on her."

"Does she have a name?" Ronon asked, amused.

"Didn't I mention that?" Sheppard said, absently. "Her name is Grace."

"Hmmm… Grace," Rodney pondered. "Very pretty."

That comment alone earned him a glare from Sheppard. "It is. And she is. Pretty, that is. So do me a favor and keep any idiots from hitting on her."

Lorne just looked at Sheppard, amused. "And who'd try anything with the base commander's sister? Or half sister, that is."

Sheppard looked as if he remembered something. "Oh. Here's the thing. She requested that no one knows about our connection, at least for now. She doesn't want special treatment. Well, she was okay with me telling a few close people."

"Ah-ha," Rodney exclaimed, triumphantly. "So you _do_ consider us as your best friends."

Ronon just knocked Rodney in the head, grinning. "Give it up, Rodney."

"So," Lorne said, wanting to make sure he got the details correct. "Watch her, help her adjust, that kind of thing." When Sheppard nodded, he asked one more question. "Who else besides us and Woolsey, know?"

Sheppard looked uncomfortable for a second and then tried to hide it. "Dr. Keller does as well. For medical purposes, of course."

Ronon smirked. "Yeah. Right. Well, if that's it… then let's eat."

Lorne trailed behind the three men as they exited the room. He thought over the conversation. It was interesting that John had pushed for this request. He knew, based on a few conversations with him and Ronon, that John wasn't close to his brother anymore. And the same went for his father before he passed away. Maybe he was trying to turn over a new leaf, to say, with this new found half sister.

In any case, he knew it wouldn't go as smoothly as Ronon and McKay took his request. By keeping her identity secret from others, he knew there'd be problems. Sheppard already hit on one… the men in the city outnumbered the females. If she was as good looking as Sheppard described her, Grace would no doubt attract a lot of attention. Secondly, Sheppard didn't say how he'd justify to others the amount of time he'd spend with her. If the main purpose of bringing her to Atlantis was to make up for lost time, the entire expedition would wonder what was going on with the two of them. It'd make it more uncomfortable for her as the new recruit as well as being female.

Lorne decided to bring it up to him if need be. Maybe, since Jennifer knew about it, Sheppard could get her to befriend Grace at first to avoid any speculation on Grace's relationship with John.

It was about to get more interesting around here, he thought.


	2. Chapter 2

Grace Sullivan waited to be transported down to the city. Calm on the outside, no one knew how unsteady she was feeling on the inside.

The group she'd traveled with from Midway was mostly made up of scientists with a few military members thrown in. She'd kept to herself for most of the journey, studying everything John had requested the SGC to give her about Atlantis in her quarters. She did, occasionally, join a group at meal times. A few of the men who'd been on Atlantis before were surprised to learn about her new position as a chef. A few put out feelers to see if she was interested in something more, but Grace had put those to rest quickly. Although she was friendly with the men, she didn't encourage anything more than that. So far, all had respected her wishes.

If Grace had been told last year that she'd finally meet her half brothers and that one would cryptically ask her if she'd give up a few years of her life as she knew it to come with him, out of the country, to have the adventure of a lifetime while getting to know him, she would've laughed. Meeting her half brothers was a big step… especially when they learned that she'd found out about them over ten years ago and never attempted any contact.

Grace had known from her research that John was military… and quite the decorated and praised Air Force Colonel. But never in her wildest dreams would she have guessed he was involved in anything like this. One week later, after she'd told him yes, he flew back to Florida with a proposal and stack of military disclosure agreements. And then he started talking… she sat there, stunned, as he described Atlantis, his proposal to bring her on to the expedition, the life in Pegasus, threats… all the while captivating her with descriptions from this lost city.

She didn't know who was more surprised that she said yes. But when she did, John gave her a big grin.

"Welcome aboard, then, sis," he joked.

He insisted on training and additional briefings about what she was about to embark on. Grace agreed to sell her house, place her items in storage, and travel to Stargate Command, where she and other new recruits would have a two week training on their upcoming adventure. The training continued on their several week voyage by ship to Pegasus. She could've waited and traveled through the gate with the food that was due to arrive within a few days, but instead she insisted to be treated like the rest of the new recruits and travel by ship.

Now, minutes away from stepping onto the city, Grace looked down through the glass. It was as amazing as John had described it. She'd seen photos, of course, but nothing compared to the beauty she was looking at before her.

"Alright, folks," Colonel Caldwell announced from the front of the room. "In a few minutes, you'll be transported down to the city. There, you'll immediately be greeted by Commander Woolsey as well as the city's military lead, Lieutenant Colonel John Sheppard."

Everyone looked at him, eager to get off the ship they'd been confined to for weeks.

Caldwell chuckled. "I know you're anxious to leave. One last thing… you'll be immediately shown to the infirmary, where Chief Medical Officer Dr. Keller and her team will check you over." He lifted his eyebrows at the scientist's groans. The military members, Grace noticed, didn't flinch. "Get used to it, folks. She runs a tight ship down there."

A few minutes later, Grace prepared herself for the still-new feeling of experiencing the beaming technology. In a blink of an eye, the group was transferred into the embarking room on Atlantis. Before her, she recognized Commander Woolsey from the photos John had provided her. Next to him, she saw John. As little as they'd gotten to know one another, she was overwhelmed at how comforting the sight of him was after the months she'd spent preparing for this journey. Catching her eye, he gave her a secretative smile. She nodded, then tried to take in the others who stood next to him.

First, a big, hulking man with a rather large weapon stood confidently next to him. Ronon, she thought. Although John had spoke highly of the man, he'd warned her that Ronon could be intimidating at first. John didn't have a photo of him, but Grace knew exactly who he was based on his description. Ronon, also noticing her stare, returned the look with a serious face. Inwardly, she shuddered, but on the outside, she tilted her chin up as if to challenge him. Seeing that, Ronon gave her a smirk in return, as if she'd amused him in a way.

Next to Ronon stood a shorter man. He, like Ronon, held himself confidently but in a different way. Grace noticed how he first directed a superior look at the scientist group, which had separated slightly from the military personal. Dr. McKay, Grace thought. She watched, with slight amusement, as he rolled his eyes and occasionally muttered something to the man on his right.

She observed the man next to Dr. McKay. He was dressed like John, so he was obviously military. He must be higher up on the chain of command to be there as an official greeter with the group. Grace mentally went through the people John had mentioned on his visit, but couldn't place this man from any description.

He didn't notice her glances at first. The man was too busy muttering in disapproval back to Dr. McKay. It was obvious the doctor wasn't listening to him, instead continuing to grin sardonically at the new group before him.

When his attention was eventually off the doctor, the man scanned the group. Within seconds, he stopped and stared at Grace. She met his stare, but then quickly looked away. There was something about him that stood out from the others. Unlike Ronon and Dr. McKay, he didn't project overconfidence in the cocky manner they did. Instead, he stood at command, wiping any thoughts or emotions from his eyes. However, his eyes flickered a bit when he rested on her.

Her attention was diverted, though, as Commander Richard Woolsey began to talk.

"Greetings, everyone," he began. "Each member of the expedition, along with myself and those standing before you, welcome you to Atlantis."

For the next ten minutes, they were briefed on what to expect for the remainder of the day. Finally, Woolsey wrapped up his speech and began to introduce the men standing by him. He started with John, followed by Ronon and Dr. McKay.

"Lastly, the man to Dr. McKay's right is Major Lorne. He's second in command to Colonel Sheppard. Those of you who are military probably already know him. He'll be who you'll report to as well as Colonel Sheppard. Major Lorne is also head of training. He'll work closely with Ronon to see that you are more than adequately trained to defend yourself in the event of an attack in the city or off world."

Now that she heard his name, it sounded familiar from her talks with John. Her curiosity satisfied, she tried to focus her attention on the set of orders John was giving. After they were dismissed, both Ronon and Major Lorne led the large group to the infirmary.

She immediately identified Dr. Jennifer Keller. Grace had heard a lot about her through talking with John and a few reports she'd read on the journey to Atlantis. Despite her size, Dr. Keller immediately directed them to the stations the doctors and nurses had set up.

Females were to be seen by Dr. Keller herself for this initial physical.

"Grace Sullivan," she called out in a clear voice.

Grace was surprised when Dr. Keller led her to a more private area after she'd stepped forward. Directing her to sit on the bed, the doctor pulled the screen closed.

Instead of beginning right away, Dr. Keller smiled. "Grace," she said in a low voice. "Welcome to Atlantis. I've been anxious to meet you." Instead of waiting for a response, Dr. Keller reached over for a few instruments. "I have to work while I talk or else things will get backed up."

It was obvious that Dr. Keller knew who see was. "I've heard a lot about you, Dr. Keller. I assume you know who I am, then?"

The doctor paused and wrote down numbers on her sheet. "Of course," she said warmly. "And call me Jennifer when we're alone. Or with the guys."

As Jennifer continued the exam, she occasionally asked Grace questions about her medical history but also continued the conversation. At one point, she instructed Grace to unbutton her shirt, but not to take it off, as she listened to her lungs.

"John's been a nervous wreck the last few days," Jennifer said quietly. "But don't tell him I told you that."

"He's nervous?" Grace asked, buttoning her blouse back together. "What does he have to be nervous about? If anyone's nervous, it should be me. A few months ago, I never even knew this all existed."

Jennifer smiled and paused her exam. "John's just worried about screwing this up. He really wants to get to know you, but he's not the best at opening up to people." Marking her sheet again, she muttered to herself. "Trust me on that one."

Grace immediately picked up that there was more going on between the doctor and her brother than he let on.

"Who else knows about me?" she asked as Jennifer checked her reflexes.

"Just Woolsey and the guys," Jennifer responded, then saw the confusion in Grace's face. "Sorry. The guys I keep referring to are the men who greeted the group today. Rodney. Ronon. Evan. Teyla knows as well, but she's going to be traveling a lot in the next few weeks, so you won't get to know her and her adorable son for awhile."

Grace knew John had planned to tell a few people close to him, but knowing that specific group of men knew was a little disconcerting. She tried to pull more information from the friendly doctor.

"So, are they his closest friends?" she asked.

Jennifer gave off a laugh. "Yes, they are. But he wouldn't admit that. John's not the type of guy to admit he has friends. Let's just say those are the guys he trusts the most. Rodney has saved our lives countless times, which I'm sure you'll hear from him personally during your stay. John was the one to convince Ronon to stay here on Atlantis after they removed the tracking device and discovered he didn't have a home to go back to."

"Yes, I saw him," Grace said. "He's a big man."

"That's the understatement of the year," Jennifer chuckled. "But he's a good guy. Like McKay, countless men and women owe him their lives here."

"And I assume Evan is Major Lorne?"

Jennifer nodded, then closet her tablet. She located a stool and sat down, giving Jennifer her attention.

"Yes. Evan's the quiet one. And the only well-behaved guy out of the group. I'm sure John told Evan because he's his SIC, but also because you can always count on Evan."

Jennifer saw that some of her first impression assumptions were spot on.

"Now, just a few more things we need to cover. We can talk more later. I'm sure John'll fix it so that we have time to get to know you better." Pushing her hair out of her face, she smiled. "Standard female lecture. Ready?"

Grace grinned. Jennifer would be someone she could definitely enjoy getting to know better. "Go for it."

"Okay," Jennifer took a deep breath. "Physical exams are mandatory for everyone four times a year, as well as standard post-mission exams. For women, you'll also have a yearly OB type of exam with either myself or another doctor. Your choice."

"Can't escape that pleasantness, huh?" Grace said.

"Nope," Jennifer confirmed. "Lastly, fraternization between military members is strictly prohibited. You, however, have no restrictions."

Grace cut her off. "Uh, no chances of that happening. I've already got enough on my plate. Pardon the pun."

Jennifer smirked. "It's a good thing you feel that way. Ronon already told me that John issued the order for the guys to watch out for you here. You do realize we're outnumbered by men, four to one?"

"I figured it'd be that way," Grace said. "Don't worry. I have my ways to discourage any attention. I made it through okay on board that ship."

Jennifer stood, pausing. "That's because it was mostly scientists. They're harmless. It's the military men that cause most of the problems around here. Especially the rookies. You know, spreading it around that you're Sheppard's sister would quickly stop any problems."

Grace shook her head. "No. I'd rather not make any trouble. For him or for me. At least, at first. As much as I'm here for us to begin a relationship, I'm also here as a professional challenge. I want to do this without everyone knowing I had extra help getting here, at least for awhile."

"Hmmm…" Jennifer said. "I'm sure you'll win everyone over with the first thing you make. We're mostly on rations and bone dry food around here."

"Not for much longer," Grace promised. "Part of the plan by bringing me here was more fresh fruits, vegetables, and meats to be sent through the gate."

"Dr. Keller?" John's voice came from behind the curtain. "If she's ready, Woolsey wants me to show around Ms. Sullivan."

Grace hopped down from the table, a little nervous now herself.

"She's all set, Colonel," Jennifer said, giving away nothing inside the infirmary if she was close to John or not. Then she opened the curtain. "And keep Ronon from sending guys down to my infirmary for at least 24 hours, will you? We're behind as it is."

John just gave her a look. "I'll do my best." Looking at Grace, he motioned for the door. "Come on. I'll show you where you'll be working."

* * *

Thanks for the interest! Chapter 3 up tomorrow!


	3. Chapter 3

They didn't speak much as he led her into the hallway. Once they were a distance away from the infirmary, John finally tried to relax.

"So, how was the ride here? Any problems?"

Grace shook her head. "No. It actually went by fast. Especially with all the information you provided. I basically kept busy with that."

"Good," Sheppard paused. "So what do you think so far?"

"I think that coming here was the smartest decision I've made in a long time," she smiled as they walked. "It's all so unbelievable."

Since Atlantis had become home to him and he enjoyed talking about it, he loosened up. "I know what you mean. Everything about this place amazes me. Or scares me, quite honestly. We still haven't unlocked all the magic. There are rooms we've never explored and technology that hasn't been studied yet."

"Ah," Grace smiled. "So the great Dr. McKay hasn't mastered as much as he lets on?"

Laughing, Sheppard ushered her into a transporter. "You're a good observer. Yeah, Rodney is something else. But I can't complain too much about him. Despite the fact that we're behind in our exploration of the city, I'll admit we've sidetracked him quite a bit with frequent life or death emergencies."

"Sounds like a good person to have here, then," she said as they reached the floor where the kitchens were located. "Jennifer seems nice. I'm looking forward to getting to know her."

Sending her a surprised glance at her casual reference to Jennifer, John nodded. "Jen's been great. She didn't sign up for as much that's been thrown her was as CMO, but she's been invaluable."

When they reached the kitchens, John opened the door and allowed her to go first. Since it was just after lunch, clean up and preparation for dinner was in full swing. Several people glanced their way, sending a quick wave to John and welcoming smile to Grace. John had prepared the kitchen team, made up of mostly military, that a chef was coming their way. He was concerned Grace wouldn't be welcomed, but during the meeting, he was pleasantly surprised when a cheer rose up from the group. The prospect of more food and someone to create a better menu was more than welcomed.

He watched as Grace projected a professional, yet friendly, manner as she hung back to study the existing equipment and greeted anyone who approached her with a smile and handshake. As the minutes flew by, Sheppard found a chair and sweet talked a worker into a plate of food. Just as he was finishing his meal, a call came through on his radio.

"Sheppard," he answered.

He heard Lorne's voice come over the receiver. "Colonel, we had some excitement in the training room."

"Excitement? Really, Evan?" John heard Jennifer's irritated voice loud and clear. "You tell your boss to get over there and speak to Ronon. I have enough to deal with in here than to-"

John groaned.

"Ah, yeah," Lorne's voice came back on. John guessed he must've walked away from Jennifer. "Guess you heard all of that. Anyway, no one is seriously injured. Ronon was showing some new guys the training facilities and a couple of them were a little eager to test if the rumors about Ronon's fighting abilities are true."

He sighed. "How mad is she?"

There was a pause. Lorne's voice lowered considerably. "I'm a little wary to give any comments in that direction. She's still within ear shot."

The situation would be amusing if John wasn't concerned Jennifer would take Ronon's actions and direct her anger at him.

"All right. Thanks for giving me the heads up," John stood. "I'll go have a chat with Ronon. Meet me there once you're done."

"Gladly," Lorne said, giving off a laugh. "For once, Ronon seems the safer threat than what's going on in here."

John heard Jennifer's voice a final time, muttering something about idiot men, before Lorne's transmission ended.

"Ms. Sullivan," John called out.

Grace turned from her own plate of food. "Colonel, please call me Grace." She stood up and walked over to him.

"What's wrong, John?" she asked in a low voice.

"Mind taking a trip with me to the training room?" John asked. "I have to sort out a problem."

* * *

Grace followed John into the training room. It was bigger than she'd imagined. From what she'd heard, this is where Major Lorne as well as Ronon "broke in" new recruits. She wondered what John would think if she asked to come by and watch the training.

In their conversations, it came up that she'd been taking self-defense courses since high school. John had been pleased to hear that, but she could tell he hadn't taken her seriously.

The fact was that her training was more involved than basic self-defense. Grace has explored many forms of martial arts. While she knew she'd never be able to match Ronon, Grace knew she could hold her own with many on base if challenged.

She looked around as John marched up to Ronon. He was surrounded by several men she'd recognized from the journey here. Ronon was too busy to notice John as he showed one of the men a move that had the recruit on his back within seconds.

"All right, guys, enough for the day," John called out in an authoritative voice. "Anyone injured needs to report to the infirmary. And it better be more than a minor cut, because we have a ticked off CMO on our hands. The rest of you can report to the mess for dinner."

Ronon looked up, amused at John's speech, as the men filed out.

"So Jen's pretty angry, I guess?" Ronon asked, putting away his equipment.

"As a matter of fact, yes," John said in an irritated voice. "Seriously, big guy, couldn't this wait?"

Ronon shrugged. "I'll apologize to her. Don't worry, I won't let her take it out on you."

As if he suddenly remembered that Grace was standing there, John moved to the side. "Grace, you saw Ronon when you arrived. The beast. Ronon, this is my sister."

Grace just stood there, a little overwhelmed now that she was standing a few feet away from Ronon. However, she stood her ground without looking intimidated.

"It's nice to meet you," she said automatically, then looked at John expectantly. She assumed he'd show her to her quarters now, but instead, he continued talking.

"Grace has had some defense training," John started. "We can access her here to see where we'll place her."

As he finished the statement, Major Lorne walked through the doors. Nodding at Ronon and John and lingering a bit over Grace, he looked around the room to discover it was empty.

"Did everyone leave for dinner?" he asked.

"That or the infirmary," John said, sending an accusing look at Ronon before turning back to Lorne. "Did Keller simmer down yet?"

Lorne raised his eyebrows, shaking his head. "We had a little reprieve, but then that second group walked in." He looked like he wanted to say more, but instead tried swallowing a smile.

"Anything else you'd like to share?" John asked, sensing it as well.

"Just never seen Keller like that, Sheppard," Lorne admitted. "She's always been pretty even tempered."

John just sighed. "I'll go down there in a few and smooth things over."

Ronon coughed, grinning, while Sheppard continued sending dirty looks over at him.

Grace, in the meantime, sensed Ronon knew more than Lorne about John's status with the young doctor.

"Grace, this is Lorne," John said, indicating for Lorne to join them. "I was just telling Ronon that she's had some self-defense training but I'd like you both to figure out where to place her within the next few days."

"Now's good," Ronon called out.

Grace looked at him, surprised. Ronon, returning the look, acted as if he could see right through her. As if he knew she wanted to be anywhere else but in the room with him.

The major spoke up. "How about we give her a day or two to settle in? She's not going off world, right?"

"No, not immediately," John said. "But I'd like to take her occasionally on friendly missions. Show her around Pegasus."

"Why not just get it over with before she gets busy? Lorne can spar with her," Ronon said, sending her a knowing look that spoke loudly to her. He'd realized she didn't want to be anywhere closer to him than where she was now. "We can watch."

"Well, I guess that's okay. May as well, seeing that you'll be slammed the next few days with the new people," Sheppard thought aloud. "Lorne? Grace? You okay with that?"

Grace thought there were very few things she'd rather be doing, but instead nodded along with Lorne. "Sure. Can I go barefoot? These shoes are not exactly good for training."

John eyed her leather flats and agreed. "Chewie, show her where the gloves are while Lorne gets ready."

Reluctantly, she followed Ronon into an area near a walk in storage closet. Refusing to go in with him, she waited until he returned with a pair of gloves. As she slipped out of her shoes and socks, he stared a hole in her as he waited for her to hold out her hands.

"Tell me why you're scared of me," Ronon said quietly, surprising Grace.

Recovering, she held up her chin and allowed him to fit the gloves and secure them on her hands. "The fact that you sent a group of men into the infirmary on their first day here, maybe?"

Ronon looked at her knowingly. "Nice try. I'd buy it if you were fighting me right now and not the major."

"Ronon? Grace? Are you ready?" John called over, impatiently. Grace anxiously hurried back, escaping any further questions.

"Lorne, go easy," John said unnecessarily as Grace approached the mat that John and the Major had placed in the center of the room.

Grace found herself a little nervous now that she was so close to Major Lorne. Her initial observations of him this morning were pretty accurate. He was several inches taller than her. He'd thrown off his black buttoned long-sleeve shirt and now wore a tight fitting black t-shirt. The man was off the charts in the look department.

It was his eyes, however, captivated her on the spot.

"Can I call you Grace?" Evan asked as he finished fastenening his glove.

"That would be my name, major," Grace said, smiling a bit as she recovered from the rush of attraction she felt for him.

He returned the smile, lowering his voice. "Sorry about those two pushing you into this today. I think this is the last thing either of us really wants to do right now."

"My reasons are obvious," she said, seeing that John and Ronon hadn't stopped talking but were finally about to settle into two chairs. "What's yours?"

For the first time since she'd seen him this morning, she saw the full effect of his smile. "It may have something to do with sparing with my commanding officer's sister. One slip and it won't be pretty for me."

She laughed, feeling oddly comfortable with this man.

"You guys going to start or what?" John called out. "I've got a mess in the infirmary to see to still."

Grace almost laughed as Lorne made a face. Since his back was to the two men, she knew he'd done it as a way to make her less nervous.

"I'll take lead and start coming at you," Lorne said, now back to his serious demeanor. "Block what you can and once you feel comfortable, attack back."

She nodded. As he slowly came at her, Grace found an easy rhythm and successfully blocked every move he made. Evan nodded in approval.

"Nice. We'll go faster now."

As he increased the pace, she continued to block, focusing on anticipating every one of his movements. When John called out for Evan to kick it up a few notches, Grace surprised the men by deflecting each move Lorne made.

"Lorne," Ronon called over to them. "Don't hold back. She can handle it."

Grace saw Lorne's surprised nod but could tell he was reluctant to obey the request.

"Tell you what," Grace said, blowing a stray piece of hair off her face, grinned. It felt good to be challenged again. Weeks of preparation for the voyage and hiding out in her room on the ship made her feel restless. "You land one and I'll talk John out of firing you."

Lorne gave her a look. "Firing is the least of my worries. I have a sister of my own."

She shook her head. "It's different for us. We are just now getting to know one another."

"Oh, I'd say Sheppard's got the protective brotherly act down pretty good already," Lorne said quietly. "Ready?"

She nodded. Instead of coming at her slow, Lorne came in fast and hard. She struggled a bit at first, but continued her streak of holding her own.

"Come at me," Lorne commanded. "I want to see how you handle defense and offense."

She complied, coming at him. Grace knew this was her weak area. During her training, she'd focused mostly on self defense and not as much time training to attack.

The continued for minutes, not aware that both Ronon and John had got up off their seats to watch closer.

Finally, Grace began to tire and knew she couldn't keep up. Then Lorne made a move toward her, making her stumble a bit, tripping him. Caught off guard, Lorne caught both of them, twisted their bodies at the last minute, and took the brunt of the fall.

"Oomph," Evan said as Grace fell on top of him. Breathing for a second, he gripped her shoulders. "You okay?"

"Yeah," she breathed, embarrassed to be this close and in this position with him. She quickly discovered he smelled as good as he looked. "Sorry, I lost a little steam."

Amused and obviously forgetting they had an audience, Lorne grinned. "You did good. I'm impressed."

Grace flushed and realized it was probably time to attempt to move off of him. Ronon got to them first, gently gripping her shoulders and lifting her off. For a moment, shear panic set in, making her body freeze still. And when her eyes met Lorne's, Grace knew he picked up on it.

As soon as she was on her feet, Grace moved away from Ronon as subtly as possible, thanking him in a low voice and averting her eyes. Meanwhile, John reached down to give Lorne a hand up. The major sent her a confused look, confirming he'd picked up on it. As soon as Lorne stood, he winced.

"What's wrong?" John asked in a dreaded voice.

Lorne leaned back gingerly. "Nothing. I think I just twisted wrong before our fall. I'll be fine."

John just groaned. "Against my better judgment, you better have Keller take a look."

"Can I pass on that, Sheppard?" Lorne said, taking off his gloves and rubbing the area. "Maybe it'll go away on its own if I rest up tonight."

"Negative, major. If we need to bump back tomorrow's mission, I need to know now."

Lorne nodded, heading to the door. Ronon called for him to wait and said he'd accompany him, muttering about mending fences with the doctor.

"So, that was a pleasant surprise," John grinned. "You've had more than the basics I take it?"

Grace, feeling sorry for the major but also proud she'd impressed her brother, grinned. "I can hold my own. I just need to get back into shape. And work on more offensive moves."

"Then you'd feel comfortable if I had Ronon and Lorne trade off on training you? You're too advanced for the science group and I'd rather not sick you with the military one."

Grace swallowed, but nodded.

"Come on," he said, waiting for her to put her shoes back on. "I"ll show you the way to your quarters."

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the interest/reviews. Next chapter up tomorrow.


	4. Chapter 4

Evan grimaced as he struggled to keep pace with Ronon. Whatever happened to his back, it was getting worse.

"You could've did some damage back there," Ronon eyed him. "If it happens again, go down with the opponent and roll to the side at the last minute."

"Didn't really have time to think," Evan said, feeling like he was stating the obvious. He began to think back to Grace's reaction to Ronon and gave the larger man a questioning look.

"Did anything happen between you and Sheppard's sister before I got there?"

Ronon shook his head. "No. Nothing." They walked in silence for a few beats. "I thought I was the only one who noticed she was jumpy around me."

Shaking his head, Evan wondered if there was more to Grace's story than Sheppard knew. "Maybe she's just skittish like many of the women are at first."

They walked in silence for a bit until Ronon grinned. "Sheppard's sister is a surprise. Nothing much is to me anymore, but seeing her keep up with you was a shock."

Evan agreed. "I think he has a lot more to learn about her."

"Wonder how she'd handle you if you really didn't hold back next time," Ronon grinned as he entered the infirmary.

Chuckling, Evan looked around for Keller. "I'd never go full out on a woman. Call me old fashioned, but I'd never forgive myself if I slipped."

"I think she's tougher than any of us expected," Ronon disagreed. "With a little work, she'll be able to hold her own with most of the guys who come in there. She's got speed over their strength. And she anticipated most of your movements."

"Well, look who's here?" Keller leaned against her office wall, obviously still holding a grudge against Ronon. Spying Evan next to him, she narrowed her eyes as he slowly walked toward her, holding his back. She rounded on Ronon. "Are you serious?"

Ronon held up his hands in self defense. "I didn't do it."

Evan winced, knowing somehow he'd get caught between the two. "It was an accident. Grace fell during a sparing session and I took the brunt of the collision."

"Is she okay?" Keller directed her attention to Evan. "And why in the world are you guys making her train the first day she arrived?"

"She's fine," Ronon said, looking a little ashamed that he was probably the one who caused the woman in front of him to look so frazzled and tired. "And I'm sorry about earlier."

"Sorry?" Jennifer hissed. "I appreciate the apology, but how about a promise not to send anyone in here for the next few days? Can you do that for me?"

Lorne watched in amusement as Ronon winced. "Yeah, I can do that."

"Okay," Jennifer said, working up a small smile. "Then you're forgiven." She turned to Evan. "Now as for you, stay out of trouble, too. And go over to an examining area so I can figure out what the damage is." She looked over her shoulder as she moved to grab a computer. "Wait 'till it gets out that a girl put you out of commission, Lorne."

Rolling his eyes, he just took the jab as Ronon laughed next to him.

* * *

Ronon left the infirmary as Jennifer treated Lorne. Luckily, she said he had a minor muscle strain and would recover within a few days. The mission for tomorrow, however, was postponed due to his injury.

After a quick radio transmission to McKay, he found out where Grace's quarters were. Knocking, he took several steps back from the door, anticipating her apprehension.

"Ronon?" Grace looked around, obviously surprised by his surprise visit. "Umm, what can I do for you?"

She looked younger now, standing at the door dressed in jeans and a fitted yellow top. Her chestnut brown hair, which he guessed she always wore up, was still back in a high, sleek pony tail, revealing the bone structure of her face.

"You look like him," Ronon blurted out. "Sheppard, I mean."

Shocked, she cocked her head. "I guess I haven't made any comparisons yet."

Sensing she'd be more comfortable if they talked outside of her room, he leaned against the wall across from her door. "Can we talk? Maybe go for a walk?"

He could tell she wanted to refuse, but surprised him by nodding. "I'll grab my shoes. Can you show me the way to the kitchen? I'm still a little turned around."

He nodded and perked up a bit. "Sure. I could eat."

His statement earned him a tiny smile. Grateful for anything, he waited outside while she slipped into her shoes.

"So," Ronon said as they walked. "Want to tell me anything?"

She was silent for a minute. "Let me ask you this. When you came here… did you want to talk about your past to strangers? I mean, especially the first week you were here?"

Ronon, understanding, shook his head. "No."

"Then you should understand," Grace said quietly. "We all have our pasts. Secrets. And after time, which I'm assuming led you to open up to my brother, sometimes we begin to feel comfortable sharing those things with people whom we begin to trust."

"Fair enough," Ronon said. "How about we make a deal? I'll drop it, completely, until you're ready to tell one of us. And in exchange, you do me a favor."

"What?" Grace asked when he paused uncomfortably.

"I caused Sheppard some grief today," Ronon admitted. "Got him into trouble with Jen. So I was thinking… maybe you could make them something special Friday night? Like a dessert? Something-"

Amused now, Grace began to smile. "Romantic?"

Ronon grinned. "So you picked up on what's going on with them? That's surprising. Lorne and McKay don't have a clue."

Grace shrugged. "It's easy to be the observer to a new group of people. I picked up that something was going on between them this morning."

"Well, it just started," Ronon said. "And I don't want to be the one who ruins it."

He watched as she began to think. "Okay. It's a deal. I'll deliver something special around 7:00. His room, right?"

Ronon nodded but looked confused. "What time is that?"

She laughed. "Sorry. 19:00. I forgot you guys are on military time."

Looking relieved, Ronon thanked her as they arrived in the kitchen, grabbed a sandwich, and set out to find Sheppard.

* * *

Friday afternoon, after gleaning from several people information on food preferences for the doctor, Grace stood in the kitchen and created a rich dessert. Stepping back, she was satisfied with the end product. On the white plate, she'd placed two personalized sized black forest cakes that she'd shaped into hearts. Each had a smaller sized layer of cream cheese frosting on them shaped into a heart design and were surrounded by a dozen chocolate dipped strawberries, decorated with a white chocolate drizzle.

The fresh fruit had arrived through the gate, which only happened every few months. Grace had saved a small portion of it for a special occasion such as this one.

She arrived at his room, thanks to a map Dr. McKay had given her of the city, Grace knocked lightly on the door. She still had about ten minutes before Jennifer would arrive. When John opened the door in surprise, she could tell he'd been expecting Jennifer.

"Grace?" John said, immediately opening the door to invite her in. "This is a surprise. I thought you were doing training tonight?"

"No," Grace smiled. "The staff and I finished early. So I decided to experiment in the kitchen and thought I'd drop this off for you."

John looked down at what she was carrying for the first time and glanced back at her. "Seems like a lot for just one person," he said, struggling to hide a smile. "And what are those? Hearts?"

Grace chuckled. "Yeah. Well, thought I'd practice for Valentine's Day."

Laughing, he set it down on a table near his door and crossed his arms. "Valentine's Day isn't for another year. Nice try. Now, why do I think you know more than you let on? Come on, why don't you stay for a bit?"

She opened her mouth to respond but then spotted Jennifer walking down the hallway. It made her feel nice to have him invite her in, knowing full well he had a date. "Oops. Gotta run. Have fun tonight."

Before John could respond, she darted down the hallway before Jennifer could see her.

John, confused, watched her go just as Jennifer reached his quarters.

"Waiting for me?" she joked, leaning in to kiss his cheek. "We just saw each other at dinner."

John was starting to realize what was going on with his sister. Ronon must've let it out or else she'd realized he and Jennifer were dating. It made him happy, knowing that she was beginning to feel more comfortable around him to do something like this for him.

"Actually, yes," John said, deciding to use Grace's gift to his advantage. He'd originally planned on surprising her with popcorn, one of her favorites, but instead shut the door instructed her to close her eyes.

"John, what in the world is going on?" Jennifer laughed as he led her to his couch, where he'd already set up his lap top for a movie.

"Well, to make up for the grief my teammate caused you this week-"

"Ugh, don't remind me," she groaned. "I'm just now recovering from that experience."

"Well, open your eyes," he said as he set down the dessert next to the lap top. Glad that Grace had thoughtfully included two silver spoons, he handed her one. "It seems that I have connections now with the kitchen."

Her jaw dropped as she gazed at the beautiful dessert. "Wow," Jennifer said. "I know you're probably used to stuff like this, but from where I came from… our restaurant's definition of a fancy dessert was whipped cream with sprinkles on top of the every day sundaes. This is incredible."

"Yeah, well, don't let it get out," he said, sitting down closely next to her and spooning up a small portion. He brought it to her mouth, smiling as she closed her eyes in pure bliss. "Grace'll be getting requests like this all of the time."

After swallowing, Jennifer shook her head. "No need to tell me that. I'll be glad to keep it a secret. Being CMO and lead military should come with some perks."

Unable to resist, he cupped her face and gave her a slow, lingering kiss. "Yeah. There are a lot of potential perks I'm thinking about right now. Like how the CMO and lead military should have mandatory days off together."

Flushing, she set down her spoon. "I'm discovering you have many good ideas. Tell me more," she said, but didn't let him respond. Instead, she returned the kiss.

* * *

A/N: Thanks for the interest! Next chapter up tomorrow.


	5. Chapter 5

Two weeks flew by, leaving Grace with the satisfied feeling that she'd made the right decision in coming to Atlantis.

She'd spent most of her days in the kitchen. The staff, who continued to fully support any ideas she threw at them, amazed her. Grace would be the first to admit that the workers were not as trained and educated in culinary ways than any she'd ever worked with since becoming a chef, but they made up for it with exceptional work ethic and friendliness.

"Hey, boss," one of the line workers came in to her office one day. "Ronon just came in to talk to you."

Grace looked up to see Ronon hulking in the doorway. He looked at her, nodded, and then his eyes began to dart to the food that was coming out of the oven.

"Thanks, McClaren," Grace smiled and then stopped him before he left. "Actually, do me a favor and give the starving man a plate. We could use a taste tester for this new chicken dish we came up with."

McClaren snorted. "Then I'd get someone else who won't inhale it in two seconds." Rolling his eyes, he went to get Ronon the dish.

"Ronon," Grace said as she exited her office. She indicated for him to sit at a small table off to the side. "What can I do for you?"

Ronon's eyes were still on the food. "What smells good?"

"Chicken," Grace immediately responded. Just as she finished, McClaren came up and handed Ronon a plate. "And McClaren and I would like an opinion on it."

Perking up, Ronon grinned. "Seriously?" Not waiting for confirmation, and just as McClaren suspected he would, Ronon cut the chicken into three bites and swallowed it.

"Chew, man," McClaren warned, earning a glare from Ronon. "So, what do you think?"

After swallowing, Ronon nodded. "Good."

"On that note," McClaren chuckled, "I guess it passes. Well, only one hundred more of them to get cooking before the rush comes."

Ronon shook his head when he tried to take the plate with him. Instead, he began spooning up the sauce, then resorted to licking the plate.

Grace couldn't help but laugh, earning a smile from him. He set down the plate, then leaned back.

"So, it took a few weeks, but it looks like you're not scared of me anymore."

His directness was refreshing. She'd learned in two weeks that the man had no qualms about being honest and up front. In the several times that Jennifer had ate with John's team and Jennifer, it gave her a sense of reassurance of the man.

Grace nodded, taking a long drink of water. "I've decided you're harmless. But I'll admit, your size is intimidating. Many men use that to their advantage. You use it, but only when necessary. Or when you're annoyed at McKay."

"Harmless?" Ronon grunted. "No one has ever called me that." He eyed her. "Ready to talk?"

She shook her head. As much as she'd like to admit that she was growing closer to John and his team, she'd still only scratched the surface in getting to know them… as well as them with her. "Now, what brings you into my domain? Besides food?"

"You start training tomorrow," he reminded her. "Lorne's taking the first week, then I'll do the next."

Grace completely forgot about that. "Shoot. I'll have to adjust the kitchen schedule then. What time?"

"Lorne's flexible. His team is off this week. But be careful with him… his back still hurts now and then."

She reddened. "I still feel guilty about that. Can't someone else do my training?"

"Sheppard and I have two missions and he won't let anyone else but the two of us train you," Ronon said. "So go easy on him."

She rolled her eyes. "You and I both know he never went full out on me. That, and it was completely my fault that he tripped and then landed that way so I wouldn't get hurt."

Ronon laughed. "Yeah. Well, Lorne's heroic like that. Send word to him today about what time you want to meet tomorrow."

* * *

Evan prepped for the session before Grace arrived, knowing that her schedule was tighter than his this week.

However, she arrived early. And looked as if she'd rushed to get there.

"Sorry, am I late?" she asked, bending down to tie her shoes as if she'd just slipped them on and took off running without tying them.

He finished setting out the mats and walked over to her. "No, you're early." While she finished, he took in her appearance. Her hair, as always, was pulled back in a high pony tail. She'd also half pulled it through again, making a messy loop which he assumed was so that her hair didn't get in the way today. Grace had on black running pants, cut just below the knees, and a hot pink t-shirt.

Evan was caught looking at her when her head raised up suddenly. If she'd noticed, she didn't give any indication. "I'm having a hard time adjusting. My last job called for perfection. Anything less meant I was fired on the spot. Here, it seems like everyone just wants a good plate of food, regardless what it looks like."

Bending, he continued to look at her. Her eyes were the same shape as Sheppard's, but instead had a warm brown color to them. And when she talked about work, her face lit up, as if she was truly happy working here compared to her last job.

He knew looking never hurt, but looking at this particular woman was definitely on the top of his "don't even think about it" list. About the last thing he wanted was to begin feeling something more for Sheppard's sister.

"Ah," he said, sitting down. "We should probably start by warming up. Why don't you tell me why you started in self-defense and what types you've done in the last few years?"

Nodding, she bent one leg in and placed the other one in front of her, bending down. Evan watched her as she thought for a minute as she stretched. The woman was certainly in shape, judging from her flexibility and toned legs.

When her mouth opened to speak, he averted his gaze back to her eyes. This, he thought, would be more challenging than he originally thought. It was the first time they were alone and it made him realize how drawn he was to her already.

"I started just at the end of high school," Grace stared off to the side as she spoke. "I went for the usual reasons that send women to self-defense classes. It changed my life. From then on, I always made sure some type of karate or self-defense class worked into my school schedule and kept up with it after I graduated from culinary school."

He could tell from her body language that her past wasn't something she cared to elaborate on, making him wish he knew more about her. Evan knew he had no reason or business to press for more information, so he finished his own stretching instead.

"Well, you obviously have the basics... and then some," he grinned." You impressed us, actually. So how about we go through what each of us think you could use help with."

After several minutes, they both agreed that training her how to attack an opponent was something she didn't have much experience with. He started her off by showing her how to send an opponent to the ground if she had the advantage of sneaking up from behind. With a few well placed firm kicks, she effectively knocked him down on the mat.

"Major, you're going to hurt your back again," she said, giving him a hand up.

"It's Evan," he said, trying not to hold on to her hand any longer than necessary. "And back injuries are just part of the perks around here. I'll be fine."

Two hours later, they decided to quit. Evan, despite his decision to try and keep his distance, found himself stalling so that she wouldn't leave right away.

"I think you're going to pick this up pretty quickly," he said, pleased she didn't run off immediately as she helped him carry the mats to the side of the room.

She grinned. "Thanks. I'm just hoping to get my endurance back. That time on board the ship killed me. I was able to do weight and resistance work in my room, but there was no place to do any running."

"You're a runner?" he asked as she nodded. "A bunch of us are regulars down the south area of the city. Keller, especially."

"I'll have to ask her if she'd like company," Grace said, gathering the bag she'd brought into the room. "Right after I finish with the training and inventory in the kitchen."

He decided to walk out with her, seeing as she was headed to the direction of the living areas. Evan knew her room was on the same level as his and Sheppard's.

"Aside from the initial adjustments, how are things going?" Evan asked her as they walked companionably down the hallway.

"Good," she admitted. "Better than I thought, actually. The staff was welcoming and receptive immediately to any changes I wanted to make. It shocked me, actually. If you've watched reality food TV, you probably have noticed that chefs and kitchen staffs normally come with lots of friction. But not here."

Evan nodded. "Probably because we all have to live together. Think about it. Back on Earth, you check in and out at your job. Here, you are completely surrounded all day by the same people whom you work with day in and day out. Not only that, but you begin to depend on many of them for your own survival. That, and none of them have had anything beyond basic food prep training."

"Very true," she agreed. "It also helps that I brought a ton of good food with me."

He laughed, then caught her eye. Dangerous territory, he thought to himself. She was way too easy to talk with. Switching topics, he saw they were halfway back to where their quarters were.

"Are you able to spend time with Sheppard?" Evan asked. "I know one of the reasons you came here was to get to know him better."

A look came across her face… the same one he saw earlier when he asked about her past. Obviously, Grace was open about her feelings about her job but not about her personal life.

"Yeah, we have," she answered and shrugged. "A few dinners together… and I had him taste test a dessert for me. But we've both been pretty busy. I guess that's good, though… to take it slow."

Evan decided not to comment, but instead stopped in front of her door. "I'm glad to hear everything is going okay. How about we meet up Wednesday…. Two days from now?"

She nodded and opened her door, turning to him. "Thanks. For tonight. It was fun, actually."

He smiled, waved, and walked down to his own quarters, pondering how he could help his commanding officer and Grace spend more time together.


	6. Chapter 6

The knocking on his office door brought Evan out of the work mode he'd struggled to get into in the first place.

Slightly annoyed, he sighed. Without prompting the door opened and Sheppard walked through.

"Lorne," he said, sitting down in the chair alongside his desk. "Need to bring you up to speed on a few things this week."

Evan set aside the remaining pieces of paperwork he had to go through and gave Sheppard his attention.

"I got the mission schedule Woolsey and you sent out last night," Evan said, bringing up the document on his lap top. "Looks like a few easy ones for once."

"Yeah. Let's hope so," Sheppard agreed. "We're going to continue having your team work with SGA-12. They're making progress with the science guys on a few pieces of Ancient technology on whatever world they're on."

Lorne chuckled, completely used to Sheppard's lack for remembering details. Numbers, he was quick with. But not useless information.

"So, I'm having you accompany me, as you've read, and Ronon on a medical mission. Our allies dialed us up the other day. It seems their doctors have a few unexplained bugs or viruses they're dealing with. Keller's going with us to see if we can help."

"Doc will be happy we're going to a peaceful planet that needs our help for once," Evan said.

"Her and me both," Sheppard sighed. "With everything else going on, I don't need any excitement on our missions this week."

He sat for a minute, opened his mouth and inhaled, then closed it again.

Lorne just waited it out, knowing he'd either bring up what was on his mind or drop it.

"So how is Grace doing with training this week?" Sheppard finally asked, looking suspiciously awkward.

Not expecting that to come up, Evan sat up slightly straighter. "Ah, good. She's improving on what we've been working on. And she told me she's been running with Keller."

"Good, good," Sheppard responded quickly. He still didn't move from his chair. "Our schedules haven't been the same since she arrived. Is there anything she needs?"

Evan wanted to say what was on his mind, but instead answered the safe route. "No. She seems happy to be here."

Sheppard, however, eyed him. "What are you not telling me?"

He sighed. Evan was always getting harassed for having the worst poker face in the world when it came to situations like this. "Maybe there's a way to fix it so that your schedules work together a little more."

"Has she said anything to you about that?"

Evan just remained silent, determined not to confide to Shepppard about a personal conversation he'd had with Grace. "I think it'd be good for you to sit down and talk. She's mentioned that she hasn't seen much of you since the first week." Suddenly, he had an idea. "How about inviting her to go on the mission with us mid-week? The one with Keller?"

Sheppard thought for a moment. "Not a bad idea. I don't foresee us having any problems. The planet is only inhabited by the one village. We've been there twice with no problems."

"Well," Evan said. "I'd agree with you, but sometimes we have a knack for conjuring up problems."

Sheppard finally laughed. "You mean, Jennifer has a way of getting into trouble? That was very tactful, though, Lorne."

Evan began to relax a bit. "At least you said it and not me."

Sheppard stood up. "Alright. I'm going to snag some lunch from Grace right now and run it by her. If she can clear her schedule, we'll be adding her to the mission."

Evan watched as Sheppard left. He slowly exhaled his breath. He's never been nervous around Sheppard before. Professional, always. But the time he'd spent with Grace this week confirmed the fact that he was having a hard time keeping a certain commanding officer's sister off of his mind.

* * *

"Is that lasagna I smell?" John leaned over and sniffed toward the oven, spotting the rows of pasta lined in dishes.

Grace jumped in surprise to find her brother standing next to her.

"Yes," she said, double checking they had enough pans prepped to go in. "Dinner should be good today."

John grinned. "Dinner's been good since you've been here. Better than good."

Grace quickly washed her hands and turned to him.

"No missions today?" she asked.

"No," John shook his head. "I haven't seen much of you lately. Other than at meal times. How are you doing?"

Grace felt he had something on his mind more than just a quick trip into the kitchen to chat with her.

"Good," she responded. "Everything going really well. The job. Training…"

"Yeah," John said. "Can you take a break right now? I wanted to ask you something."

"Sure," she said, surprised. "My office okay?"

He nodded as they walked in and closed the door.

"So," John began. "Would you be able to clear your schedule for a day or two and accompany us on a mission? It's a peaceful one. Jen's needed on a planet where they're short doctors."

Grace felt a little nervous. Here, in the kitchen, she completely had confidence in her abilities. In the training room, she had almost the same amount of confidence, although she knew there was still she had to learn. Going off-world, however, intrigued but still scared her. But the idea of spending more time with John, even in a work setting, made her want to go even more.

"Wow," she said, thinking quickly. "Sure. I guess. I mean, if you think I'm ready for it."

John nodded, not looking worried. "You'll be fine. It was actually Lorne's idea. He'll join us, as well as Ronon and Jen."

She tried to hide her disappointment. It was silly, she knew, but Grace felt oddly let down that Evan had come up with the idea and not her own brother.

John must've sense something was wrong.

"And," he continued, looking at her strangely. "I wondered if you wanted to run with me. Maybe tonight? A few hours after dinner? I know Jen's on a 12 hour shift today and that you've been going with her, but she usually never goes after a long shift."

Brightening, she nodded. "Sure. Sounds good. I'll be out of here around 7, so stop by my room."

They talked for a few more minutes about the upcoming mission before he left. Grace, happy that her and John would get a little more time together, found herself looking forward to the mission.

* * *

Twenty minutes into their run, Grace found herself enjoying running alongside of her brother.

"Running with you is harder," Grace said, smiling. "Jen and I usually make a few stops along the way."

John looked at her with concern. "You need to rest?"

She laughed. "No. We just figured out that we couldn't run and talk at the same time."

Grinning, he pointed ahead of them. "About ten minutes more and we'll be at my favorite spot on Atlantis."

They continued running at a moderate pace and soon reached the location he'd mentioned. They stood, both breathing hard, overlooking the view from the outlook point as they leaned against the rails.

"It's beautiful," she remarked, gazing out into the moonlit sky. "So unreal."

"I'm glad you were able to go. You've been pretty busy lately."

Grace smirked at him. "I'm glad you noticed. Usually you're too busy eying a certain doctor."

He playfully nudged her shoulder, grinning. "Yeah. Well, I'm hoping we're too old for you to do the annoying little sister thing now."

"What? You think I'm going to sneak up on the two of you, trying to catch you kissing?" She laughed.

John just shook his head. "I knew you'd be trouble..." He motioned for them to sit nearer to the wall. "So really, how are things going? I feel like after that first week, we kind of went into two different directions. Lorne and Jen see you more than I do."

Grace stretched her legs out in front of her, sitting next to him. "Everything is good. Better than good. I love it here."

"Is everyone treating you well? No fights in the kitchen or any suspicious looks from anyone when we're together?"

She shook her head, shrugging.

He paused. "Why do I feel like getting information out of you is harder than getting Ronon to behave with the newbies?"

"Because the man, although he respects you, will never give up his ways," she answered back. "And you're one to talk. You weren't exactly forthcoming about your relationship with Jen."

"Touché. All right, Ms. Evasive," John looked into the night sky. "You ask me a question. I'll answer it. Then it's your turn."

"Fair enough," Grace said, taking a moment to think. "What's your favorite part about being here?"

He paused. "I guess knowing that we're doing something unprecedented. And our findings here may help Earth out in many ways… medical and technology advances, defenses against our enemies…"

John saw she was satisfied and asked his own question. "Why did you come?"

Grace looked at him in surprise. "Because you asked."

"Lame. Try again."

"Because," she huffed. "I was curious about you and since you're a little out of cell phone range, it was the only way to get to know you."

"Better," he said.

"Why don't you get long with Dave?"

John narrowed his eyes, not believing she'd picked up on that from meeting them together only once. "Dave's like our father. And I didn't get along with our father. Both have dedicated their lives to the family business and I didn't follow that tradition."

Then pinned her with a look. "Why'd you wait ten years to contact us? And why didn't our father tell us about you?"

She dropped his gaze, feeling a little ashamed."That's two questions."

"Not if they're both related," John reasoned.

"I found out about you both the day I left home for school after high school. I wasn't a good time in my life. Our father did contact me days afterward, since my mother finally gave him the 'courtesy' call that she'd gotten pregnant and he had an 18 year old daughter. We meet several times the next ten years. As far as the years after that, I guess I never felt the desire to meet more family. Especially since I didn't know how you'd both react."

She sat in silence and then finally looked back at him.

"My mother had an affair with your father. It doesn't place her, or me for that matter, in the most flattering position."

"Why do their actions have anything to do with you?" John asked.

She shook her head. "It just does. My mother paid for that one night for the rest of her life." Standing up, she reached down for his hand. "Now that was three questions. Enough cheating, and enough questions for tonight."

John stood and then placed his hand on her shoulder. "For what it's worth, I'm glad it finally happened. I mean, I'm glad you finally decided it was time for us to meet."

Grace gently smiled and reached down to squeeze one of his hands. "Me too."


	7. Chapter 7

Grace braced herself as she stepped through the gate for the first time. In an instant, the five of them were transported to another world.

A bitterly cold one, she discovered.

John looked back to Evan, a little concerned. "Major? Is it just me or is the temperature more on the chilly side this time around?"

Evan looked down at an instrument he was holding. "Yeah. By about 30 degrees."

"Didn't notice," Ronon shrugged, walking forward as if nothing was wrong.

Jennifer rolled her eyes at Ronon. "Come on. I'm sure we can survive a little bit of wind and cold. It's not like there's a blizzard or anything."

Evan and John just looked at each other.

"Onward?" John asked.

Evan looked a little more apprehensive. "With reservations. And with the option to abort if things get any colder. We're not prepared for that."

John looked at Grace and stopping Jennifer from walking further. "You girls going to be warm enough?"

"It's not that bad of a walk," Jennifer remembered. "I think we'll be fine."

She nodded, feeling the bitter cold but knowing once they began walking she'd warm up. "I'm good."

As they walked, Jennifer and Ronon fell in step beside each other while Evan and John walked next to her. She listened as the two men inventoried what they'd brought in case the weather changed suddenly. John and Ronon both had insulated sleeping bags for the women, in case the group had to spend the night outdoors or somewhere without beds. Evan had most of the food. John, despite Jennifer's arguing, carried most of the medical supplies. The girls carried blankets and a few other essential items in their packs, mostly comprised of quick meals and small medical kits.

Grace's head jerked to her right as a man came running toward them. Evan immediately pulled her behind John and him. Ronon did the same with Jennifer.

"He's one of the villagers," John called out. "Peaceful."

"Friends," the man gasped. "Thank you all for coming. I'm Benar. I came to dial the gate to contact you." He continued struggling to breathe, making Jennifer concerned.

"Take your time," she murmured, stepping around Ronon and kneeling next to him since he was doubled over. "Slow, deep breaths."

"No time," he argued. "Two of our children fell ill over night. They are much worse than any of the elders or adults."

Jennifer looked back at their small group. "We need to hurry."

John nodded and then followed Benar. Their pace quickened as they made the two mile journey to the village.

"Ice," the Benar called out. "It's all over the trails. Please be careful." He stuck close to Jennifer since he knew she was the healer and helped guide her over spots he noticed. Ronon flanked her other side, clearly unfazed by the ice and freezing temperatures.

John and Evan, in the mean time, each took a spot nearer to Grace.

"Temperature is falling," Evan murmured to John after checking his device again. "Another ten degrees."

John nodded. "I felt it. We're about half way to the village."

Grace felt the wind cut through her bones.

"You doing okay?" Evan asked in a low voice. "Florida winters don't prepare you for this kind of weather."

"I'm good," Grace answered quickly, wishing she had gloves on. If she stuck her hands in her pockets, it threw her body off balance when they crossed over the ice.

"More ice," Benar warned. "Some of it's recent. And there could be a few small areas with water underneath."

"Water?" John barked. "Are we on a pond?"

"No, it's a stream," Ronon said, pointing to the trail of trees the water had carved through.

John cursed as they slowed down to maneuver around the patches. Soon, it became near impossible.

"I'll walk ahead of you both and try and find the less slick route. If there is one," John said. "Ronon, hang on to Jen."

Evan grabbed hold of her arm. But his action didn't help. Minutes later, the group stilled as they heard a huge cracking noise.

"What was that?" Jennifer asked in a dreaded tone.

Seconds later, Grace found the ground dissolve below her, sending her shrieking as she dropped into frigid cold water. Since Evan had been holding her, he slid into her on his side, sending half of his upper body into the water next to her.

"Stop," Evan yelled as he heard the group rush to them. "Stay back. I've got her."

"Lorne," Sheppard called out tightly.

"I've got her, Sheppard." His eyes never left Grace's. "Okay. One minute and I'll have you out. Can you stand?"

Shivering uncontrollably, she stretched her legs and felt the ground with her feet. "Yeah. Barely. It's not too deep."

"Good," Evan said calmly, even though his own body had begun to shiver. "I'm going to slowly snake back on the ice so that nothing else breaks. When I count to three, I want you to push off and then throw as much of your weight onto the ice. Get as far from the edge as possible. I think I'll be able to pull you from there."

Evan called back to Ronon. "Get the rope out, just in case this doesn't work. It's not deep, so it's just a matter of getting her out and away from the thin ice we're on."

He turned back to Grace. "Ready?"

She nodded. Once he counted to three, she vaulted onto the ice, placing her weight as evenly as possible as Evan grabbed her belt and hoisted her lower body up. They stilled as they heard another cracking sound, but this time nothing gave way.

Evan refused to let go of her. She wanted nothing but to scoot over to be closer to him, half due to the cold and the other just for the comfort.

"We need to crawl over to the group," Evan said. "Can you make it?"

She nodded and attempted to talk through her chattering teeth. "Anything- to get- away- from that- hole."

He sent her a small smile through his own chattering teeth. "Agreed."

Slowly, they each made it over. When it was safe enough, John rushed over to help her as Ronon lifted Evan to his feet.

"Nice work," John said, clearly happy both were out of danger.

Jennifer didn't look as happy. "We need to get them to shelter. Immediately."

"It's about a 25 minute walk from here if we keep up the same pace," Ronon spoke up, eying their wet clothes and obviously agreeing. "There's a cave. Teyla and I found it last trip here. About a five minute walk up that walkway."

Benar spoke up. "We keep it stocked with dry firewood. We often have harsh weather such as this. People get too far away from town and often need a place for shelter."

Grace began to shiver uncontrollably. She heard John order the others to get a blanket and worked off her soaking jacket. His hands attempted at warming her by rubbing up and down her arms, but nothing helped. As if she was observing from afar, she couldn't make out what the others were saying. John looked worried. Jennifer pulled Evan aside, called out orders to Ronon, all the while she stood there, shivering. Moving closer to John, she stumbled a bit as he grabbed hold of her tighter.

* * *

Evan was scared. Grace's lips had turned blue within minutes after he'd pulled her out. Now shivering in a thin shirt and wrapped in a blanket, he knew from Jennifer's serious tone that they had to move fast. Catching his eye, she brought over a blanket to him and lowered her voice.

"You and Ronon take her to the cave," she said. "John'll want to stay with her, but I need someone to go with me and only Ronon knows the way to the cave. Those kids may not have time."

"Tell me what to do," he said, moving from one foot to the next to try and fight the chill.

"Get there as fast as you can," she continued. "Hypothermia sets in fast. She's already showing signs of it. She's out of it, becoming uncoordinated, obviously freezing from the shock of the cold water. You both need to get out of the wet clothes. Start a fire. One sleeping bag… body heat, Evan. No time for modesty. She's going to need skin to skin contact."

He nodded. "Understood."

She gave him a few more pieces of information, as well as how to look for frostbite, and then moved to Sheppard. "She'll be fine, John. I gave them instructions and we can stay in touch with them through the radio."

Obviously, Sheppard wanted to stay, but since Ronon knew exactly where the cave was, added to the fact that Evan himself wasn't doing too well since he'd been pulled into the water, he nodded.

"Stay in contact," he said seriously. "Take care of her."

Ronon had shrugged out of his coat and pulled it around Grace's shaking form. Adding another blanket for Evan, he quickly led the way to the cave while guiding Grace. But as soon as they were out of site from Sheppard and Jennifer, Grace stumbled and fell over.

Not missing a step, Ronon reached down and swung her up into his arms. He turned to Evan, who wished he could do more but instead knew he was beginning to feel the effects of the bitter temperatures.

"It's not much farther," Ronon grunted, hurrying now that he didn't have to guide Grace.

As soon as they reached the cave, Ronon set down Grace and yanked the sleeping back out of his pack. Handing it to Evan, he turned to start a fire as Evan rolled out the bag nearby the area where Ronon was building up the pile of wood.

As soon as the bag was unzipped, Evan turned to Grace. "Grace, can you hear me?" He looked down and discovered she was unconscious. Worrying if that was a bad thing, since he hadn't asked Jennifer if he needed to keep her awake, he worked even faster.

Not thinking about anything more than getting her warm, he quickly unbuttoned her shirt. His hands were shaking so much that he couldn't get the last three buttons and ended up grabbing both sides of her shirt and tearing it apart. He threw it to the side, wrapping her upper body in a blanket and carried her over to the sleeping bag.

A quick glance over his shoulder as he removed her socks and shoes showed Ronon making progress on the fire. Turning back to Grace, he unbuttoned and removed her soaking pants. Her legs were like blocks of ice. As carefully as he could, he lifted and placed her in the bag, then quickly removed his own clothing.

"Lorne?" Ronon asked in surprise, looking at Evan as if he was crazy.

"She needs to get warm fast," Evan said as he stripped down to his boxers. "Jennifer said skin to skin contact."

Ronon nodded in understanding. Evan quickly moved next to her, zipped up the bag, and pulled her into his arms.

"Do you still need that blanket for her?" Ronon said, crouching next to her. "I think I have an idea on how to get her warm quicker."

Evan worked the blanket from around her body and handed it to Ronon. When Ronon didn't stand up, Evan looked up at him.

Ronon grimly pulled back the sleeping bag, gently trailing a finger down Grace's back.

"What?" Evan asked, immediately concerned. "Is she hurt?"

"No," Ronon answered, shaking his head. "Not from today. But someone hurt her."

Confused, Evan scooted up and looked over her shoulder. The light from outside the cave was still peaking through the doorway. It illuminated white, raised scars on Grace's back. Not just a few, but many were scattered from her neck down as far as Evan could see.

Evan felt the air leave his lungs. Rage, sympathy, and protectiveness poured into him all at once. Leaning back down, he gathered her closer.

"There's no way Sheppard knows," Ronon said as he walked away. "It explains a lot. Like her reactions to me."

Evan didn't respond. He couldn't. And if he could, he didn't have anything useful to say. So instead, he ran his hands up and down her arms, and then even more gently across her back. And every time his fingers felt a raised mark, he found himself wondering who had put those marks on her.

He knew she didn't understand anything that was going on, but her eyes had opened several times as he continued to hold her tight. Soon, the fire began to blaze and Evan found himself feeling the warmth creep back into Grace slowly.


	8. Chapter 8

As she woke up, Grace's first thought was that she was finally warm. It surrounded her, making her snuggle closer to the source. Something down by her feet was giving off a good amount of heat too. Confused, she moved her foot to the object but found it covered in soft fabric.

"It's rocks," a voice quietly said. "Ronon warmed them by the fire and then wrapped them up in a blanket."

Startled, she recognized Evan's voice and opened her eyes. As she did, she shifted and immediately realized that his arms were tightly around her. Her head was nestled on his bent arm and she was facing him.

They were close. Very close. Finding herself enjoying the feeling, her eyes shut again.

"Grace," Evan said, forcing her to open her eyes again. "Try to stay awake."

Reluctantly, Grace opened her eyes again and tried to focus on Evan's face, which was only an inch or so away from her own.

"Do you remember anything?" Evan asked her gently.

Feeling as if there were cobwebs in her brain, she looked around. They were in some sort of cave. An orange light from a… fire, she confirmed as she heard the crackling of the wood. Ronon sat there, restlessly shaving a piece of wood with his knife.

Her hands felt the smoothness of skin. Evan's skin. Suddenly, she realized that her arms were bent against his stomach and chest. His _bare_ stomach and chest. And her hands were currently exploring the soft skin and firm muscles of his torso. Once she figured out what she was doing, she gasped.

"You don't have clothes on," she said, leaning back. As her hands moved back to her own body, she felt her slightly damp sports bra and discovered she was without a shirt as well.

"Listen," Evan said, allowing her to create more space between them but grabbing her still slightly cold hands and rubbing them together. "The ice. It broke. You fell through, remember?"

Calming down, she finally realized why neither of them were dressed. Of course, she thought. Feeling foolish, she suddenly became embarrassed.

"Hypothermia," she murmured, remembering from a first aid class that skin to skin contact was necessary in extreme circumstances to quickly bring someone's body temperature back to normal. "I don't remember much. After I fell through, things got a little fuzzy in my brain." She relaxed, but made no attempt at returning to her original location against his body. "Are you okay?"

Evan smiled, nodding. "I'm fine. I only got a little wet. You, however, took the full dive into the water."

"I remember," she shivered, now appreciating the warmth of his hands still clasping hers. "Where are John and Jennifer?"

"At the village," Evan said. "Sheppard was worried about you and wanted to stay, but someone had to stay with Jennifer. Ronon knew about this cave, so we took you here."

Grace still felt worried. "Did they get there okay?"

He nodded. "We've been in radio contact the entire time. The two kids were bad off. If Jennifer hadn't made it there, I don't think they would've survived. She's stabilizing them now. Luckily, she brought her usual arsenal of medical equipment and started IV's on both of them."

Still feeling a little awkward, she tried to relax. "So what's the plan now?"

Evan glanced over his shoulder. "We'll eat soon. You've been out for two hours. Jennifer wants to stay the night to monitor the kids, so we'll bunk here in the cave until morning. Ronon's been keeping tabs on the weather. The temperature stabilized and it doesn't look like it will get much colder during the night. The villagers told John sometimes a cold front will come in... well, that's how John translated it from their description. Then we'll go back home."

Glancing over Evan, she saw Ronon begin to pull out food from one of the bags.

"Um, not to sound prude, but is there any way…" Grace began, reddening as she spoke.

"Clothes," Evan awkwardly finished for her. "Yeah. Sorry. I know this isn't the most comfortable way to wake up."

Grace almost laughed at the situation. Truth be told, it definitely wasn't the worst. Waking up snug against Evan wasn't exactly torturous.

He called for Ronon to bring Grace a change of clothes from her bag, as well for himself. Ronon also tossed each of them a few power bars.

"So, who-" Grace began, then shook her head. "Never mind. I don't want to know."

He must've guessed about her awkward question. "Me. And trust me, the only thing on my mind was getting you warm. Your lips were Smurf blue."

"Smurf blue?" she repeated. "Cute."

"Here," Ronon said as he approached them.

Grace reached to grab for her clothes as Evan did the same. He scooted up and unzipped the bag. Immediately she noticed the slam of cold air against her body. But the more obvious thing was the sight of Evan's body as he twisted around and pulled on a t-shirt.

"I'll turn so you can get dressed," Evan said. "Ronon's busy in the corner over there."

Quickly, while trying to keep her mind off the man beside her, she pulled on a long-sleeved shirt and clumsily yanked on her pants. Diving back down under the covers, she was surprised to see him do the same.

"Sorry," he explained as his body shook slightly. "There's only one sleeping bag. And both of our jackets are still drying. All I have is this t-shirt."

Grace just shivered, not admitting that she didn't mind a bit that he was staying close to her.

"Here," Evan said, braving the cold to exit the bag and then moved behind her. "I should've had you closest to the fire in the first place."

She was now facing the fire with her back to Evan. Still shivering, she found herself scooting back slightly to lean against him.

His mouth was against her ear. "Still cold?"

She nodded. His arm came around her waist, pulling her tightly against his body again.

She closed her eyes, savoring the feeling of utter peacefulness and warmth in his arms. Grace was grown enough to know that whatever she was feeling toward him was probably one sided. And being this intimate with him, knowing she was probably the only one who'd began to have more than friendly feelings toward him, was not a pleasant situation to be in. She tried to think of something… anything to talk about.

"Is Ronon warm enough?"

Evan chuckled. "I hope so, because there's no more room in here."

Grace burst out laughing, making Ronon look over to their side of the fire.

"She's feeling better." Evan explained. "Grace is worried about you."

Ronon grinned. She noticed that he didn't even have his coat fastened. "This is nothing. I've been on planets worse than this."

"Tell me about one of them," Grace said, surprising both Evan and Ronon. "It'll make the time pass by faster."

"So you want to know more about my past," he asked her pointedly.

Grace flushed, knowing exactly what he was referring to. "Just bits and pieces you wouldn't mind sharing."

And so he did. Ronon told them about Sateda and his life before the Wraith attacks. He left out parts, she realized, that he didn't want to talk about. Just like she did with her own past when she'd talked to John on their run. Then Ronon went on about different worlds and things he'd learned or experiences while on the run from the Wraith.

"Wow," Evan said to her quietly when Ronon finished. "That's the most I've ever heard him talk."

She eyed the big man who'd made a makeshift pallet of blankets several feet away from them. His eyes had closed, indicating he was done with conversation for the night.

"I think we wore him out," she joked. "Now it's your turn."

"Mine?" he asked. "What, you want me to talk now? About what?"

"Your life," she said. "Anything. I figure you know about me from my file."

He adjusted his position, making her even closer to his body. "Actually, I only received your preliminary file. The other one that contains the real dirt goes to Woolsey and Sheppard. And to be honest with you, your brother tends to scan through them."

She grinned. "John's more of a man of action, huh? I can't see him sitting behind a desk."

"Should I feel insulted?" his voice rumbled in her ear.

Laughing, she swatted his hand by her waist. "No. I'm just saying that he's more of a… you know what? Never mind."

"Good idea," Evan laughed. "So on to my life story…"

"Oh my. All of this anticipation building…"

"Quiet," he said. "This is important stuff." For the next hour, he told her stories from his childhood, making her laugh, and then through his teenage years. Evan admitted that his mother had encouraged his creative side and taught him how to paint, prompting more questions from her. It felt like every sentence... every small laugh he made... made her feel even more attracted to this man.

At one point, she shifted so that she could lay on her back while Evan propped up his head on his elbow while laying on his side.

Near the end, Grace got quiet. He continued, but knew she was drifting off. When her body completely relaxed against his, he smiled, rolled her back onto her side, and wrapped his arms around her.

As the minutes went by, he kept thinking about the scars on her back. And he wondered who put them there. It was obvious that it had been done in her past, probably when she was younger. Judging from her reaction to Ronon in the training room, Evan wondered if she was intimidated by his size. Grace had never reacted in fear toward him, leaving him wishing he knew exactly what had happened in her past. He never wanted to put the look of fear into her eyes like he'd seen her react with Ronon.

* * *

"Lorne," Ronon's voice sounded through his slumber. He was so comfortable. Not wanting to wake up, he hoped it was all part of a dream. "Lorne, wake up."

Evan cracked one eye open, straining to look up at Ronon. Instantly, he remembered where he was and their current situation. One glance in front of him showed Grace still sleeping in the comfort of his arms.

"Sheppard and Keller will be here in a few minutes," Ronon said, finishing dousing the fire.

"Sheppard?" Evan repeated. "Here? Already? What time is it?"

Ronon shrugged, then watched in obvious amusement as Evan quickly exited the sleeping back and walked over to his drying clothes.

"Thanks for the warning," he said over his shoulder, with a slight bit of sarcasm.

That earned a laugh from Ronon. "You're lucky I even woke you. Sheppard would probably be grateful for watching after Grace."

Evan just turned and glared at him. "Funny." He pulled his pants and shirt from yesterday on, missing buttons but not caring. His coat was still slightly damp in one corner, but he shrugged into it as well. The shoes, however, were the worst. He must've stepped into some icy water at one point yesterday. Glad that at least his socks were dry, he yanked on the offending soggy boots.

Ronon had Grace's shirt, pants and coat. "Her coat's still bad. And her shoes. The rest is okay if she wants extra layers on top of whatever she has on. I think if we give her a few blankets, she should be okay."

Evan shook his head and shrugged out of his jacket. "Give me the blankets and she can have my coat."

Ronon set the items next to her just as Sheppard and Jennifer walked through the entrance.

"How is she?" Sheppard immediately asked, walking over to Grace's still form. "Jen, can you take a look at her?"

Concerned, Jennifer also hurried over to her as they dropped their packs. "She's just sleeping, John. Look… she's warm as can be." Jennifer looked up, glancing at Evan. "You guys did a good job of taking care of her."

"Lorne did most of it," Ronon said, with a slight smirk on his face. "I just built the fire."

Evan, to his dismay, felt the blood rush into his face. Jennifer covered her laugh with a cough.

Jennifer gently woke up Grace as Sheppard walked over to Evan to plan their return to the gate.

"The good news is that it's a lot warmer today," Sheppard said. Then he eyed Evan's lack of coat. "Your coat still wet?"

"No. Grace can have it. Hers isn't wearable in this cold."

"At least let's gather together whatever shirts we can layer on you," Jennifer said from a few feet away. "John has an extra one. I'd lend you mind but…"

"I don't care how cold it is," Evan grinned at her. "I'm not wearing girl clothes."

Grace by this time had fully woken up. He could tell she was slightly disorientated and immediately looked for him behind her when Jennifer awakened her. And if he wasn't mistaken... a look of disappointment crossed her face.

Could he have imagined that? Shaking his head, he tried to keep his thoughts in line. Thinking about Grace, especially while they were still off-world and not in the best situation to travel back to the gate, was only going to distract him from helping Sheppard and Ronon get the girls back safely to Atlantis.

Meanwhile, Grace began to layer on more clothes. At Evan's insistence, she wore his coat. Within thirty minutes, the team was exiting the cave.

"Hey, Grace?" John said, firmly latching onto her arm. "How about sticking above water for the trip back?"

She rolled her eyes, although looking pleased with John's joking with her. "Sure. I'll remember that."

"Big brothers are a pain, aren't they?" Jennifer walked on the other side of John. Evan was a step behind them while Ronon led in the front.

"How would you know?" John shot back. "You're an only child."

"Because, I can see it already. You're already transforming into a hovering, protective, alpha male around her. Actually, it's kinda nice for me," Jennifer said. "It was getting irritating how you'd stare down any man who even smiled at me in the infirmary."

Then realizing what she said, Jennifer gasped and covered her mouth.

Grace just laughed at the young doctor's expression. "I hate to break it to you, but it's kind of obvious the two of you have something going on."

"But we didn't want it out yet," Jennifer said, turning red.

John sighed. "It's not like she didn't know. Grace made us that cake one night."

Evan just stared. _Sheppard and Jennifer_, he thought?

Ronon shook his head. "Whose idea do you think it was to send that do you?"

"You? You knew, too?" Jennifer said to Ronon, then turning back to Jennifer. "Seriously? It was Ronon's and your idea for that cake? And to think I thought John was romantic enough to come up with the idea."

"I think the big guy must've convinced Grace to do something nice for us since he caused so many problems the first day Grace arrived. And I did have something planned," John defended himself as they began to see the gate over the hill. "Popcorn. Your favorite."

"Hmmm…" Jennifer debated. "Popcorn would've been ice. But you let me think that it was all your idea."

Evan remained quiet, taking it all in. Grace looked over at him, amused.

"Well, you had Evan fooled at least" she said. "That's something."

Ronon snorted. "He's been too busy looking at-" he muttered, only to get slapped on the arm by Jennifer. "Hey! What was that for?"

"Watch it, Chewie," Jennifer warned, looking at Ronon pointedly. "Or else I'm no longer your personal seamstress when you get cut next time."

Evan, at this point, just wanted to get back at the gate. He knew Ronon had noticed his attention to Sheppard's sister, but not the doc. Luckily, Jennifer's save allowed him to escape embarrassment and possibly worse. Hopefully, Grace hadn't heard Ronon. A glance in her direction, to his luck, showed Grace and John laughing about something else.

Finally, the group reached the gate.

"Well," John said, loosely draping an arm around Grace's shoulders. "How was your first off world trip?"

Grace just stared at him. "Does that question dignify an answer?"

"Oh, don't worry," Jennifer assured her as Ronon dialed the gate. "I had a streak of bad luck and wailed that I'd never set foot off world again. But now look. My bad luck is gone."

"I think you transferred it to someone else," Evan laughed, looking at Grace.

Jennifer smirked. "Oh come on," she teased Evan. "Falling into the water wasn't all bad, was it?"

Evan just glared at her. Grace remained silent and decided the best course of action was to get back, as soon as possible, to Atlantis.

"It's never a dull moment with women around. Right, big guy?" Sheppard called over to Ronon.

Ronon just grunted. "At least we're not missing lunch. I'm starving."

Evan rolled his eyes as he brought up the rear of the group and was last to walk through the gate.


	9. Chapter 9

A/N: Sorry for the delay... had the baby unexpectedly with some complications. All is well now. Story may not be updated daily with everything going on.

* * *

John stood in the doorway as he studied his sister. It was nearly 21:00. Dinner had been over hours ago, leaving only a few stragglers left in the mess hall who had nothing else to do on a Friday night.

Grace was at a table, head bent low as she read paperwork in neatly labeled binders. As he walked up to her, John saw she'd been studying kitchen inventory records from the past year on Atlantis.

"Exciting Friday night, huh?" John spoke, wincing as he made her jump.

"Jeez," she said, giving him a look. "Warn a girl, John."

He laughed. "I didn't realize kitchen inventory was so engrossing and exciting to look at."

Forgiving him, she indicated for him to sit down. "Yeah, this is about as wild and crazy as I get."

"And as your brother," he grinned. "I find that refreshing. It means less work for me chasing away guys from you."

Grace just looked at him. "Your girlfriend is right. Big brothers definitely can be a pain. Speaking of which, where is the good doctor?"

John found himself growing comfortable with the fact that his team had figured out John and Jennifer were together. And knowing that Grace both knew and approved of Jennifer made it even better.

"Actually, I asked if she'd mind if I tracked you down tonight," John said. "I thought we could do something. Just the two of us."

He watched his sister mouth softly turn into a smile. "John. You don't have to give up date night for me. I can find something to occupy my time with."

He snorted, nudging the binder. "Obviously not."

As a group of men came in coming off shift. They headed to an area Grace had set up for people to get a midnight snack. It was just many of the positive changes she'd made since arriving on Atlantis, all boosting morale around the city.

"Oh. So you actually want me to have a social life?" she said, grinning and pretending to look interested in the group. She began to stand up. "So who should I go hit on? The tall one is pretty cute."

John sat straight up, yanking her hand back down. "What? No one. Jeez. Don't do that."

She just laughed. "Sucker."

Shaking his head, he had to laugh. They'd come a long way in the two months she'd been to Atlantis. After she'd settled in and they got past the initial awkwardness, not to mention the mission she'd took years off of his life when she fell through the ice, they'd each made it a priority to spend a few nights a week together. They'd gone on runs, met for dinners, and Grace had even enlisted his help in the kitchen twice to try out new dishes. Ronon, however, was a little miffed that he hadn't been asked to help with the last activity.

He pulled out a deck of cards. "How about a game of War?" He grinned as he asked her.

"Seriously?"

He nodded. "It's about all my brain can handle tonight. Lorne was insistent on clearing our desks today of paperwork. Well, more like _he_ wanted to clear his desk and _I _couldn't look bad if he finished while my stack was piling over."

She leaned forward, placing the binders on the floor. "You poor thing," she joked. "Remind me how to play. It's been a long time. Actually, I'm not even sure I've ever played this game with an adult. Just once when I babysat the neighbor's kid."

Surprised, he began to deal out the cards. "Your childhood was seriously lacking." He glanced up to see her look away with a slightly pained expression on her face. She did that, quite often, when they spoke of her early years. "How about in between rounds we continue our questioning game?"

Grace gave a somewhat tired smile. "Sure, I guess. Just as long as you keep to the rules. One question per turn. No packaging deals."

"Deal."

For the next twenty minutes, she laughed as they began the game, drawing glances from the group behind them across the room. Since he'd moved so that they'd be sitting closer together, he was able to glance at the men. Soon, he was sending a glare to a particular man… one of the captains that had arrived with Grace. John had seen him before sneaking looks at Grace.

For what it was worth, he knew it'd happen. His sister was beautiful. She didn't flaunt it like many did. Instead, her hair, which he knew for a fact since he'd seen it back home, came down in thick waves down to bottom of her back. But she kept up in a pony tail on Atlantis. It didn't hide her beauty, but tamed it in a way. She wore minimal makeup, which he liked since he was never a fan of women who caked the stuff on. Grace's clothes were professional, yet trendy… but never form fitting enough to send men the wrong message. Uncomfortable as it was, he knew she had a curvy, slender figure.

But so far, he hadn't had to deal with any men talking about her in a way that would suggest they were interested in her. Yet one glance in the captain's direction showed that at least one man was interested.

"My turn?" Grace interrupted his thoughts.

"At cards or at our questioning game?" John asked. "My brain can't handle this multi-tasking."

"Both," she said. "Hmmm… so tell me about how you and Jennifer became a couple."

He coughed. "Seriously?"

"Yes," she answered, feigning insult. "I think I have a right to know as your sister."

He rolled his eyes. This was not exactly the topic he cared to discuss with her. "Ah," he began, fumbling a bit.

"Are you blushing?"

"No," he shook his head. "It's just a little warm in here."

Grace threw her head back and laughed.

"Alright, alright," John groused. "I had a couple bad weeks were I kept coming back injured. Jennifer was pulling double shifts at the time. It always worked out that she'd be the one patching me up. We got to talking… had a few late night snacks in the mess together. Then it just happened."

Grace, who'd looked amused during his story, looked hopeful until the last part. "Seriously? 'Then it just happened.' Can't you do better than that on how you describe falling in love with her?"

"Love," he blanched. "Oh God."

"Oh, man up," Grace swatted him. "You're completely in love with the woman. You mean you haven't told her yet."

"What? No. It's only been three months."

Disgusted, Grace just glared at him. "You should tell her. A woman likes to hear these things."

"What? So soon?"

She sighed. "It doesn't have a time frame. Sometimes it happens in a day… sometimes months. But in your case, the minute I stepped onto Atlantis I knew you both had something special."

John squirmed.

"Men," Grace said in a disgusting way.

"Alright," he said, leaning forward. "My turn. How many men have 'manned up' and told you?"

"Told me what?" she snorted. "They love me? Two. And neither one of them meant it."

"What do you mean? How did you know?"

"A woman knows, John," Grace said, throwing out a card. "And I'm sure Jennifer knows that you love her. It's just a woman wants to be told, too."

"No," John shook his head. "We were talking about you. So how could you tell the men were lying? And why were you with them in the first place?"

"Did you expect me, at my age, not to have dated?" She raised her eyebrows at him. "I'm 28, John, not 16."

"I realize that," John said.

"Truth be told, some men just say it to use it to their advantage," Grace said. "They usually want something."

His eyes darkened.

"Not just that," she rolled her eyes. "Okay, next question. Oh, I have a good one. That journalism class in college is proving to be useful in my investigative techniques."

"Investigative techniques?" he repeated.

"Yes. So when did you realize you were in love with Jennifer?"

The woman was impossible. He just stared down at his cards, throwing out a random one without thinking much. The answer to the question was easy. He didn't have to think about it. He knew she'd get it out of him, so he caved in to the inevitable.

"We were on a mission," John said. "Before we started dating. Jen was surrounded by a group of kids. They were all fighting to get a chance to sit in her lap. We ended up staying three hours more past our check in time so that she could play with the kids after the clinic. I watched her the entire time… Told the other guys I'd look out for trouble while they went to eat at a pub in the village. But I really just stayed to watch her. I'll never forget how happy she looked."

Grace, obviously surprised he answered the question, smiled with slightly watery eyes. "That was sweet," she said, leaning over to kiss him on his cheek. "But you still need to tell her."

John looked at her in surprise. Of all the things he regretted in his life, his failed relationships with his father and brother topped the list. But here, this unexpected woman walked into his life a few months ago, and immediately accepted him for who he was. The feeling was indescribable.

They sat there for hours, fighting and laughing, over several rounds of cards. Grace began to open up a little to John, revealing to him that she'd moved out of her house the day after graduating high school. Grace confided to him that she wasn't getting along with her mother and stepfather. A friend of Grace's family took her in, rent free, where she stayed while attending her first year of college.

Their lives had been polar opposite. For him, despite not getting along with his father, he'd had every luxury available to him. Some he took, some he pushed away. But knowing that she was practically homeless while he had thousands in the bank as a college freshman bothered him. If only he'd known about her sooner. He could've helped.

He was curious about the role his father played after she contacted him, but sensed it wasn't the time to bring it up. Grace, he'd learned, was slow to open up even to him. Instead, he enjoyed their time together that night and knew that they were headed in the right direction.

* * *

Ronon and Evan were about to pass the mess hall as they headed back to their quarters. They'd just finished a two hour intense training session with some of the newer recruits. Ronon, clearly still trying to earn his way back into Jennifer's good side, kept the injuries to a minimum.

"Hey," Ronon said, cocking his head in the direction of the far corner. "Looks like Sheppard's getting to know Grace better."

Evan had to grin. He was happy for the pair. Grace, since the mission, had seemed happier when talking about Sheppard. Several times since they'd returned, he knew both of them had gone out of their way to spend time with one another. And it clearly showed how the time together had made them grow closer.

He wondered, however, if she suspected that his feelings for her grew stronger each time he saw her. Evan noticed that training with her, especially when they were alone, was becoming awkward at times… for both of them. If it was any other woman, he probably would've made a move by now. But this particular woman was completely off limits in his mind. So he tried to care about her just as a friend… yet he continued to fail at that, leaving him to wonder if this was something he'd be able to continue fighting with.

* * *

Thanks for reading/reviewing.


	10. Chapter 10

I apologize for the days between updates! We had our baby, but then had an NICU stay as well as another trip back to the NICU for another problem. But as I get time, I'll wrap up this story. I have 15 total chapters outlined, so five more are left.

* * *

Another week went by, leaving Grace shaking her head. It was amazing how quickly time flew by in Pegasus. When she first thought about making the journey to Atlantis, she wondered if living where she worked would make life boring. Quite the contrary, she was quickly figuring out.

John and Grace continued their late night conversations. Sometimes they stuck to a group and other times they managed to find a few hours on their own. Each day they grew closer. Both of them were learning to open up about each other's pasts, yet Grace still held some secrets back from John. She knew she'd tell him, eventually, about everything.

Grace smiled when she thought of her brother's relationship with Jennifer. Now that she was getting to know her brother more, the couple made sense together. They still managed to keep things a secret from most of the expedition members. Grace knew that it bothered them, in a way, to deceive people they cared about. But in the end, the pair just wanted more time together without the scrutiny of others watching or making predictions on how long it would last.

Jennifer and Grace continued their runs together. A few times when John was on a mission, they'd have a late night coffee together and talk dirt on the workings of the city. Grace found herself not only liking Jennifer for who she was to her brother, but also as a close friend.

Ronon also proved to be someone she could count on to amuse her, from his frequent hopeful visits to the kitchen to "taste test" anything to his continual ongoing training. She appreciated the fact that he pushed her to her limits, forcing her to learn to defend herself in ways she never thought possible.

The only person she was unsure of was Evan. Since they'd returned from the mission, they both continued the friendship and grew closer each day. At times, Grace suspected that Evan felt similar feelings toward her but made no mention or attempt at anything more than friendship.

And she was okay with that. For right now, it was about all she could handle. But sometimes, late at night as she looked out the window into the evening sky, she wished she could share the moment with him, snuggled in his arms again.

* * *

It was finally his first day off in over a week. With injuries and illnesses plaguing a few teams, Evan had picked up shifts to make sure Atlantis maintained full coverage on security rounds and missions.

His body was sore. Not to mention he had the need to completely erase his mind for a few hours on anything besides Wraith threats, keeping McKay and Zelenka from killing each other in the lab, and training the last group of scientists who'd come with Grace on the ship.

As he lugged his painting supplies through the hallway, he headed to his favorite balcony. Evan knew he could count on not being bothered there since no one else seemed to frequent that area of the city.

So he was surprised, to say the last, to find a figure huddled on the ground gazing out across the city when the doors opened.

"Grace?" he asked, confirming it was her as she turned around.

"Hey," she said, turning to face him from her seat on the floor. Eying his load of paint supplies, Grace began to stand up. "I was just taking a break and getting fresh air. I'll go so you can be alone."

"No," Evan said, setting down the supplies and setting up a chair. "Stay. I mean, if you can."

Grace, uncertain whether she should go or stay, ended up settling back down. "Are you sure? I don't want to ruin the only night off you've had in over a week."

Pleased that she'd noticed his absence from dinner and get togethers, he gave her a smile. "You could never ruin a night off. Besides, I'd like the company. Sometimes I get bored or sidetracked when I paint."

"If you're sure…" she said, turning so that she faced away from the city again to give him privacy. She picked up the journaling paper she'd brought, along with a pen, and stared down at it.

"Writers block?" he asked in amusement.

Without looking back at him, Grace shook her head. "I wish. No, I've been putting off writing a letter to back home."

He frowned. Obviously, it was someone who was important in her life. She'd never mentioned her family or friends. In fact, Grace had a way of avoiding talking about her life before Atlantis, other than a few stories about college and when she first began studying culinary arts.

Evan wondered, briefly, if the letter was to a man back home… Sheppard hadn't mentioned Grace was in a relationship- serious or not.

"You haven't had the time?" Evan asked, hoping she'd shed light on whatever she was debating in her head. "Or just didn't want to write it."

Grace frowned. "A little of both. But mostly procrastination."

As Evan unloaded all of his supplies, he waited for her to elaborate. To his surprise, she did.

"It's to my mom," she sighed. "We haven't spoke much since I left home."

"Since coming to Atlantis?" Evan asked.

She shook her head. "Graduation. High school, to be specific."

Evan was surprised. Growing up, family had been the most important thing in his life. It still was. Both of his parents were still living and he often emailed them back home and visited every chance he had. One of the reasons he'd pushed Sheppard into getting to know Grace better was that he also had a great relationship with his sister.

"So I take it you're not close to your family," Evan prodded, even though he knew he was pushing his luck.

She gave a dry laugh. "No. Not at all. John's about it." Grace paused. "Surprised?"

Struggling to find the right words, he finally just went with his gut. "No. It's not too hard to believe that every family isn't like mine."

"You're very lucky, Evan," she said quietly. "And very blessed."

He began to sketch out the scene in front of him in his book. "If you don't mind me asking, why the sudden urge to send a letter home?"

Grace brought her knees up to her chest. "Guilt, for one. I didn't even tell her I was leaving for a few years. That, and it was time. Long past time."

She paused before looking back at him with a serious expression. "Have you ever waited years to forgive someone?" Grace didn't wait for his response. "It eats away at you. Day after day."

He stopped sketching. Instead, he placed down his pencil and quietly got up to sit next to her. Evan gave her one long look before looking away.

"Grace, there's something you should know," he quietly said. "Ronon and I… well, we saw… that night in the cave, he helped me with something and he saw the scars."

It surprised him when she didn't get angry, nor acted surprised. "I know," she said. "I wondered if you had since that day. Ever since, you've acted strange toward me. And Ronon… he hasn't exactly let me slide on much during training, but there are times I sense he knows something more about my past and he'll back away."

Evan nodded. "So this is the point of the conversation where I ask what happened to you… and who hurt you. But I can already guess that you'll be telling me to mind my own business."

Grace leaned into him. Instead of pushing him away, physically and emotionally, she shocked him by doing the opposite.

"It was a long time ago," she said quietly. "And it's something I should work on forgetting. But like the scars… the memories just won't go away."

"Tell me," he murmured, loosely placing his arm around her.

"It was my stepfather," she began. "My mom… well, she worried that being a single parent wouldn't be enough for me, so she dated after leaving John's father. Long story short… she married a man. And he tricked her, for a long time. Paul was a man who wanted the best. So he made sure my mother always looked and acted in a way that positively reflected on himself. Paul was a lawyer, hoping to become partner in his firm."

The sun began to set. Feeling chilled, Grace tucked herself more into Evan's body. "It didn't happen often. And I know he never beat my mom. But a few times a year, he'd go into a rage. Suddenly, he'd get something in the mail and immediately Paul would begin demanding that I get my grades up. I was already a straight A student, but Paul wanted more. He always wanted more. So if I didn't get the perfect marks, he'd find a reason for my mom to leave the house and then 'teach me a lesson.'"

Evan felt himself tense. Wanting nothing more to inflict pain on the man who'd placed the marks on her body, he forced himself to remain quiet.

"Then he'd warn me… if I told my mom, he'd beat her too. So I kept quiet. For five years, he continued to find fault in something I did. Well, the day after graduation, Paul was on a angry that I should've made valevictorian. You see, the entire time, he knew about my mom's affair with John's father. So he kept tabs on him and got quarterly reports on him and his family. John, even though he wasn't the most well-behaved son, was a genius. And his brother wasn't far behind. So Paul got it in his head that I had to be better than both of them. Somehow, it would right the wrong my mother did by having an affair with a married man."

She got quiet for a time. Evan couldn't resist asking.

"So your mom… she never found out?"

Grace shook her head sadly. "Yes. She found out. In fact, she knew about the beatings a few years before I left. And that's where I have a hard time forgiving her. My mother stood by, knowing that Paul was abusing me."

Heartbroken for the woman in his arms, he gathered her close and kissed the side of her head. "I'm sorry, Grace. Family is meant to take care of one another… your mom let you down. And as for your stepfather…"

"Yeah, well. Fate took care of that," Grace said sadly. "Paul was a victim of a robbery one night. He was in another city with a client, made a stop at a gas station, and was beat to death over a few twenties in his wallet."

He felt guilty, but her words gave him comfort knowing that the man was dead. Because if he wasn't…

Evan was surprised, even at himself. Ronon would feel this way. But Evan always stuck to the rules. The law would take care of those who deserved to be punished. He'd never think of taking the law into his own hands. But if that man wasn't dead, he couldn't guarantee he'd allow the man to get away with what he did to Grace.

"Sheppard doesn't know," Evan said, not posing the statement as a question.

She shook her head. "It's in my file. But you know John…"

Evan gave off a small smile. "Yeah. I know John. One day, he's going to regret all that skimming he does."

Grace nodded. "In this case, he must've done a whole lot of flipping. The night I left home, there was a scene. Cops were involved. It wasn't pretty."

"I'm glad you made it out of the situation," Evan said. "You didn't let it dictate the rest of your life. You made something of yourself. It seems like many victims let it haunt them. It consumes them to the point where there dreams are no longer achievable since the anger and hurt prevent them from obtaining their goals."

"That's the thing," Grace said. "It may have not consumed me… and believe me, I went through a lot of counseling sessions to get to where I am now… but I've never forgiven my mother. And that's something I live with daily."

"So do it," Evan pushed her. "Write to her. Tell her how you feel. You may find yourself forgiving her because you've moved on with your life. It doesn't make it less wrong with what she did. But at least you can give yourself comfort knowing you're not going to stay angry for the rest of your life. Putting the words onto the paper may help you forgive her."

"You're right," she sighed and then stood. "Okay. I'm going back to my room and finishing this."

Evan stood, not backing away. Their bodies were so close. One move forward and she'd be forced to grab hold of him for balance. But Evan drew back, instead leaning forward and gently kissed the top of her head.

"Thank you," he said sincerely. "For trusting me with your past. I know it's hard for you to talk about it."

"It's not," she said, turning to the door. "Not with you."

Evan pondered her words as she left. He was sad for her… Grace didn't have other family to lean on during the time she was victimized by her step father. And now that she did have flesh and blood family, it was still hard for her to open up and trust. He knew since family had hurt her before, she closely guarded her secrets and trust.

But not with him. Did it mean that Grace felt the same about him? He instantly felt guilty. Again, she had enough on her plate… now and from the demons of her past… that she didn't have time to feel that way toward him.


	11. Chapter 11

_Again, I apologize for the posting delays. I'm quickly discovering that two kids is a little more hectic than one! Thanks for the messages of congratulations and concern. Our daughter is doing great. She had breathing/heart rate problems the first few days, but then bounced back. The second NICU stay was just for jaundice. We've now been home one week without any more incidents (other than mommy being sleep deprived!), but I'm also catching up on the house and we've had a ton of visitors. _

Grace knew she was in trouble. Ronon had arrived to their training session with a look on his face. It told her he'd be extending Grace to her limit today.

And he pushed… never before had anyone challenged her as Ronon had during the last several weeks. It was as if he'd figured out everything she'd been taught in the past and then sought out her weaknesses. He went through them, one by one, and worked with her until he knew for certain she could defend herself.

Even though she knew it was dangerous, her mind began to wander at one point that day. She thought about the day weeks before when she'd finally opened up to Evan. And since then, she felt something had changed in their relationship. He seemed more protective and concerned about her, if that was possible. Yes, she knew that John had asked his friends in Atlantis to watch over her, but Evan took it to another level. Despite his additional concern, Grace couldn't tell if those feelings compared to what she felt toward him.

Ronon, however, was quite the opposite. Instead of shielding her, Ronon equipped her with the means of defending herself. Evan did too, in their sessions, but also held back unlike Ronon.

For example, Ronon didn't have the sensitivity Evan possessed. Today, Ronon had insisted she shed a layer of clothes. They'd worked hard that day, and toward the end of the session, she began to wilt against the heat. He gently tugged at her thin, long-sleeved t-shirt and firmly suggested it needed to come off. Knowing he was right, it still didn't change the fact that she was sensitive about the thin, white scars that littered her back. The tank top she'd wore underneath her shirt didn't hide much.

"It's just us over here," Ronon said, gulping water. "The three men on the other side of the room can't see anything." Understanding her hesitation, he came closer. "If they come close, I'll warn you."

Nodding, she agreed. Immediately, she felt relieved and took the water bottle Ronon offered.

They resumed practice immediately. Ronon circled her, calculating how to attack next. Grace didn't move her head when the doors to the room opened, but out of the corner of her eye, she recognized John's form while still focusing most of her attention on Ronon. Her clothing forgotten, both Grace and Ronon stared each other down in the heat of their training.

Ronon made a move, only to find Grace sidestepping him. Impressed, he nodded at her.

"Nice," he growled, then sent a confident look over to John. "She's picking this up quicker than you, Sheppard."

John snorted. "Yeah, that's what everyone's saying. Grace, you earning a reputation. Pretty soon, Lorne and I will be assigning you to protect the scientists off world."

Making sure Ronon's back was turned and that he was taking a break, she let her guard down for a moment. Shaking her head and wiping the sweat off her forehead onto a towel nearby, she stuck her tongue out at John. "The next time I go off-world, I want a full geologist report before I step one toenail through that gate. In fact-"

She sensed at the last minute that Ronon was quickly approaching her. Groaning that she'd let her guard down, Grace attempted to turn around to defend herself only to have him wrap an arm around her neck and grab her hair tightly from behind. Despite the fact it was pulled up into a pony tail, he easily wrapped his hands around it and used it as leverage to gently pull her.

"You disappoint me," he laughed quietly.

Grace, however, became frozen. Ronon thought she was contemplating her next move until he saw Sheppard's face in front of him.

"Ronon," he said, holding up a hand. "Let her go. Now."

Confused, Ronon immediately released her. John rushed forward, only to have Grace react by stepping quickly away.

"No," she shuddered and backed away until her back met the wall. Unable to hold herself up any more, she slid to the floor.

Uncertain, John looked to Ronon helplessly. When Ronon's face changed from bafflement to understanding, John looked at him sharply.

"What's going on?" John said as they watched her shaking on the floor.

Shaking his head, Ronon looked at him apologetically. "I shouldn't have done that. I forgot for a minute." Reaching for his radio, he turned it on. "Lorne. Training room. Now."

Then Ronon, seeing the three Marines watching from the far side of the room, called over to them. "You three- out." He glared a warning at them. "And not a word to anyone."

The men fully understood his threat. Averting their eyes, they exited the room.

Evan's voice came through on both radios. "Ronon, I'm in the middle of-"

"It's Grace," Ronon simply said. "You need to come now."

There was a pause. "On my way."

John began to get angry at Ronon. "Ronon, start talking. What's going on here?"

"It's not for me to tell," Ronon shook his head.

John stared at the woman he's come to know. The strong woman he'd observed with pride minutes ago was gone. He helplessly looked on. And then he began to understand. As Grace folded her arms over her legs, John caught sight of the marks on her back. His breath caught in his throat. He swore, then regretted it when Grace's form began to shake.

The doors opened again. Evan, who didn't look shocked to find the scene in front of him, slowly bent down to Grace's level on the floor. Ignoring both of the men, he began speaking softly to her. In just a few minutes, she lifted her head and reached out to him. As if he was handling a delicate flower, he stood up as he swung her into his arms.

"I'm taking her to her room," Evan said without taking his eyes off Grace. She began to be aware of her surroundings at this point. But instead of protesting, she continued to allow Evan to take control of the situation.

John finally shook himself out of a daze of disbelief. "Evan," he said quietly. "My office when you're done."

Evan's eyes flickered briefly at John, but he gave him a slight nod. "It may be awhile."

John just starred, wondering how his second-in-command, as well as his best friend, knew more about his sister's past than he did. It frightened him. And made him feel ashamed. One look at Ronon told him he wouldn't get any more information out of him about the situation. Instead, he turned on his heel and made his way to his office.

_Sorry that this is not longer and may contain errors. I wanted to get it up so that people didn't think I forgot about the story! _


	12. Chapter 12

Oh my goodness, folks, I apologize. Same old excuses. If it bothers you to wait this long between chapters, you may want to wait until I'm finished. I know I hate when there is more than a week between postings because my brain can't remember the previous chapters! But I am SO SORRY! I should've never posted this until after I was done knowing the baby could come at any minute.

Thanks for understanding, though. As before, I apologize for any errors. No beta. No sleep. No brain half the time. :)

* * *

Evan quietly exited from Grace's room. By the time he'd brought her to her quarters, she had returned back to her normal self. She was shaken, of course, but convinced him to let her walk through the doorway on her own.

Grace had been embarrassed. She even suggested that he call Ronon so that she could apologize for scaring him. He'd told her that Ronon had understood and was concerned only for her.

Evan was surprised how open she'd been. She'd gone through what'd happened in the training room, from Ronon coming behind her and grabbing her hair, to a quick description of how her stepfather had dragged her by her hair several times when she'd lived back home.

He also found out that since she'd opened up to him weeks before, memories from her childhood had started to haunt her dreams at night. Whether it had been from talking about it to him, or the note she'd sent back home to her mother… either way, Grace admitted it was time that she sought counseling on Atlantis to work out her thoughts. Counseling had helped her before. Thankfully, she seemed opened and eager to begin it again.

Evan didn't want to leave her, but she had finally laid down and began to nod off. He stayed for awhile, watching her sleep. He found himself admitting to himself, not for the first time, that Grace and quickly worked her way into his heart. Yes, he felt the need to protect her from the minute she'd stepped foot on Atlantis. But it was her courage, strength, and her friendship had captured his interest. Not to mention the growing attraction he felt toward her. But he kept from putting his thoughts into action. At least for now.

Instead, he only wanted to help her. Evan could tell that she was still unable to be completely open and talk to Sheppard about her past. Grace admitted that talking to Evan, or even to a psychologist on Atlantis, was easier than the thought of telling John what she'd gone through. He tried not to push her, but Evan knew she had to make the leap of faith and talk to her brother.

Immediately after leaving her room, Evan headed to Sheppard's office. Not just because he was ordered to, but because he felt the need to give their relationship a push in the right direction. And by the time he'd reached his destination, he had worked up a good amount of frustration in general about the situation.

So when he found Sheppard bent over an open file on his desk, he confirmed it was Grace's and gritted his teeth.

In one swoop, he yanked the file from under Sheppard's hands and angrily shut it.

Sheppard, in shock, sat back in his chair. Bewildered, he looked at Evan like he'd lost his mind.

"Major." Sheppard bit out slowly. "What's your problem?"

Evan leaned forward on the desk, looking Sheppard in the eye. "Your sister needs you. Grace isn't someone randomly who came through the gate. She doesn't need you learning about her past from a report a clerk back at the SGC documented on her."

Sheppard became even angrier. He stood up to face Evan.

"Three months, Lorne," he spit out. "I thought her and I were getting somewhere. But then today, I discover she's been abused. And that my second in command and one of my closest friends on Atlantis knew about it."

Sheppard picked up the file and threw it against the wall. Papers went flying in every direction.

Evan stood in front of him, unflinching. Sheppard, still fuming, whirled toward the door when he heard it open.

When Ronon stepped in, Sheppard redirected his anger at him.

"So much for friends," Sheppard glared at him. "Want to tell me why you didn't tell me, Ronon?"

Ronon flickered a glance at Evan before returning his gaze to Sheppard. "I knew she'd tell you when she was ready." Not at all fazed by his friend's anger, Ronon took a step toward him. "Here's a thought. Have you asked yourself why she hasn't yet?"

Evan winced as Sheppard took a step toward Ronon, but then he stopped before he obviously did something he'd regret.

"Sheppard, pounding on me or Lorne isn't going to help your situation with your sister," Ronon said, then his mouth tugged upward for a moment. "And with me, you'll just end up getting hurt. I suggest you go talk to her."

Evan watched as the fight drained out of Sheppard. He sank into a chair, slouching.

"Mind telling me how you both found out? Or is Grace just trusting of everyone else besides her own blood?"

Ronon's lips twitched while Evan momentarily froze. "Trust me. Leave that story for another day," he said, sending a slight wink at Evan.

Evan gazed at Sheppard. The man, typically confident, looked unsure of his next move. Feeling sorry for him, Evan decided to help him.

"When I left, she was sleeping," Evan said. "But she doesn't stay still for very long. Give her an hour or so. Grace likes to go on the south balcony to think sometimes."

"The same one you go to when you paint?" Ronon asked. Then he grinned at Evan, ignoring the man's return glare. "Interesting."

Sheppard, obviously lost in thought, hadn't heard Ronon. Evan looked up in thanks for small miracles. Today was not the day he wanted to address his feelings for Grace to his commanding officer.

Finally, John looked up at nodded. "I'll wait a bit. I think I need to do some of my own thinking."

* * *

Grace groaned when she woke up. Everything that'd happened earlier rushed into her brain as she rose out of bed.

The chair next to her sat empty. Evan. He'd carried her back to her room. She remembered that luckily no one had been in the hallway to notice her breakdown. Grace also briefly remembered Ronon had sent the other men training in the room at the time scurrying out. There was little chance they'd blab, or else they'd deal with Ronon.

It still embarrassed her. She felt ashamed she'd frozen up on Ronon, a man… no, a _friend_ she'd learned to trust. And then the look on John's face when he watched her fall to the ground, like a coward. No doubt he'd seen the scars as well. By this time, she was sure he was disgusted at her. Not at the marks, of course, but angry she didn't trust him enough to tell him her whole story.

Feeling the grime on her body from her workout with Ronon, she decided that before she faced John, she at least needed a shower. Grace quickly went through the motions, half-hazardly combing through her wet, long hair before setting down her brush and eying the door.

She didn't want to face him yet. Figuring a few minutes delaying it wouldn't hurt, Grace finally left her room but detoured to her favorite spot.

* * *

John had been sitting, feet dangling off the balcony, for over an hour. He knew she'd come soon. And if she didn't, that Lorne would gently push her in this direction.

It was funny how well he knew his second-in-command. Strong. Courageous. Often flew under the radar because he wasn't one to boast or take lead in every situation. But today, he'd surprised John. He knew Evan would report to him after the incident, but he never expected to see rare glimpse of emotion in the major's eyes.

It pleased him, knowing that Evan, and Ronon for that matter, had took him seriously and watched out for Grace. But it didn't help the hurt he felt knowing that Grace had confided in them before him.

When the doors to the balcony finally opened, John didn't turn around at first. He sensed her hesitation, and only then turned.

"Hey," he said softly. "Fancy meeting you here."

Her hair, which she always pulled back since arriving on Atlantis, was down and surrounded her face. Still wet, he guessed she'd just stepped out of the shower.

Grace seemed reluctant to step further onto the balcony.

"Grace, I'm not angry," John murmured. Then it looked like a thought passed through his mind sickened him. He struggled to voice his concern. "You don't have to be scared of me. I'd never-"

"I'm not," she replied quickly, surprising him. "God, John. I know you'd never hurt me. It's just… I'm sorry." Her breath hitched. "I don't know what to say. How to explain…I'm just sorry I couldn't tell you."

He held his hand out, tugging on her to sit by him. "Don't apologize. I'm the one who should, matter of fact." When she sat down a few feet away from him, he closed the gap with one scoot. "If I would've made more time for you-"

She shook her head. "It didn't matter. Even if we were together every day for hours, I wouldn't have told you." Grace looked out into the night sky. "I can't explain it."

John sighed. "Yeah, well, ask Lorne and Ronon. They seem to have it all figured out."

She looked at him. "Don't be mad at them. They found out by accident. And in the end, it was easier telling someone I didn't have close ties to. I think telling a stranger would be easier than telling someone I've become to care about."

Even as she said it, she knew that wasn't the entire truth. Grace cared about Evan and had told him. But somehow- that was different.

His eyebrows rose. "How did they-"

Grace shook her head. "Let's leave that alone for now," she said, guessing he'd never found out about the mission and how close she'd been to his second in command- literally. She doubted Evan was anxious for him to learn the details.

John let it slide. "I guess it just hurt… knowing you trusted them more than with me." Then he shook his head. "But besides that… it made me angry knowing that while I was living the high life on Dad's money, you were trapped in a situation that you couldn't get out of."

"I did, eventually" Grace said, looking at him with a small smile. "Granted, it took me awhile." Grace proceeded to tell him how her step-father had problems knowing his wife had an affair with a married man. She wished she'd never had told him. But being honest, Grace's mother was up front with how Grace was conceived. He'd learned the identity of their father and had hired a private investigator to research into the lives of Sheppard's family.

From there, he began the unhealthy comparison between Grace and the Sheppard boys. In his eyes, she had to be better than them to erase the stigma of being an unwanted pregnancy.

John shook his head in disbelief. "It doesn't make sense. Why did he feel the need to compare us?"

"Donald was an odd man," Grace replied. "Growing up, I knew that, but not until I got out and got older did I realize what a sick obsession he had. He was angry at my mother for something she'd done long before they'd met and a way for gaining control of the situation was to be competitive. If I did better in school than you guys, he'd have the one up on your father. It sickened him that someone before him had been with my mother. And a _married _someone. Instead of dealing with it like a normal person, it became an obsession."

"So he… he beat you when you didn't measure up," John drew the conclusion on his own. His fist tightened. "Grace, I saw the... the scars. He didn't just knock you around, which would've been bad enough."

"It's in the past now," she sighed. "I try not to revisit the times when I was scared for my life. The man put me through hell. But I'm not going to let it eat away at me for the rest of my life. The scars are a reminder of what I survived. Something I can't ignore…"

"Mind me asking where step-father dearest is now?" John bit out in controlled anger. "Tell me he's not still with your mother."

She shook her head. "He's dead." She explained the murder. When Grace mentioned that she later found out that her mother had suspected his abuse, John swore.

"What kind of mother-" he started, then stopped. "Sorry. I just don't understand parents who don't protect their own kids."

Grace leaned into him, placing her head onto his shoulder. "I know. And it's taken me until recently to get over my resentment of my mother."

John reached behind and gently placed his arm around her. "That seems like almost impossible to do. How did you finally forgive her?"

Grace smiled slightly. "Believe it or not, your SIC had a little talk with me."

"Yeah, well, glad both of them have been looking out for you," John said, not even questioning how she'd become closer than he thought with Lorne. "But from now on, do you think you could come talk to me, too? If you ever have a problem here or want to tell me more about your life growing up."

"Actually," she said. "I never told you the rest of my story. So how about we start now?" Grace slowly told him what happened after she left home after graduation. She'd struggled to make it on her own with no money, so she lived the first year at friend's homes. After that, she bounced around to a few shelters and eventually got a steady job as a cook, which supplied the income for a small room above the restaurant as well as the start of her savings for college tuition.

"When things got bad… financially and emotionally, a few friends convinced me to contact my biological father. I did, and was surprised when he met with me the next day. It seemed that he'd always wondered what had happened to my mother, to the point where he also was worried about the outcome of that night. Your dad… well, ours… he was decent. I was up front with him about everything… why I'd left home, what I was planning on doing with my life. And then he made me a deal… he wouldn't go to the authorities about the abuse, since I was safe at that point from Donald, if I'd accept two things from him… tuition for culinary school and for him to set me up with a small apartment near the school. I refused at first, but he became insistent. The threat of others finding out about my past… I didn't want that following me around and he knew it. But his offer… it sounded like it was too good to be true. I mean, he didn't even expect me to take a test to see if we were truly father and daughter."

John laughed. "Dad and I didn't always see eye to eye. But one thing I know that's true. He's a smart man. The fact that you were dirt poor and tried to refuse his help proved how hard-headed you were. It runs in the family." Then he grinned at her. "That, and you look like a combination of Dave and I. Another dead ringer."

They sat for another hour as she filled him in with how her life changed after that day when she'd met their father. After that, they'd met occasionally and her father never pressured her to meet with him or Dave.

"I figure he didn't want to make waves in the family," Grace guessed. "I knew he wasn't ashamed of me. He admitted that he'd done something wrong. At first, it made me feel like he wished I didn't exist, so that the proof of his infidelity would be less apparent. But he was good to me, John. Not just with helping me financially. But he became almost a friend figure, rather than a father one, as I made decisions about where to study after graduating school."

"Well, I'm glad that you finally did contact us," John said. "You know, Dave's working on putting your name on some of the company stuff. Whether you like it or not, you're going to get some of the inheritance."

For the first time, Grace got angry. "No. John, that's not the reason I made contact with you both after he died."

"I know. But it's the right thing to do. When the money comes in, do whatever you want with it. Spend it. Invest. Give it away."

Sighing, she just accepted the fact he'd push her until she accepted it. "Money never appealed to me. Donald was obsessed with money and power. I decided I never wanted to be rich because of that. Or be in a position of power."

"Tell that to McKay one day," John grinned. "You'll confuse the man."

She laughed. "I take it McKay was the one who suspected I was only here to get your money?" Grace saw his confused look. "Ronon mentioned something that one of you was suspicious of me before I arrived. Since I knew it couldn't be Evan, or Jen, it left Rodney."

"Ah," John said. "I see Ronon becomes exceptionally chatty around you."

"We're good friends," Grace admitted. "When I first came here, he scared me to death. And he knew it. Luckily, he was nice on that first day in the training room and paired me with Evan instead of himself."

"He never said a word to me," John said. "It still irks me."

"My fault," Grace admitted. "I told him that everyone has their secrets and that they'd open up eventually. I knew, from reports and your account of Ronon, that he had a past. I think he understood my reasoning and figured I'd get around to talking to you eventually. Actually, Evan kept telling me I needed to trust you. He tried several times, actually, to get me to talk to you."

"So I shouldn't be hard on him, huh?" John said. "I'll admit, Lorne came in pretty ticked at me. Before I came down here, I started to snoop in your file."

Grace didn't get angry. "Evan's been frustrated with us. It appears he has a good relationship with his own sister, so watching us has been… painful, I guess."

"Lorne's a good man," Sheppard admitted. "Him and Ronon. I'll probably need to apologize for going off on them."

"There's that," Grace said distractedly. "John, there's one more thing I haven't told you. We were all given very thorough physical examinations at the SGC. The doctors saw the scars. I had to briefly explain, especially since there were no police reports. It was all documented. My file… I'm guessing it went to the medical department as well."

John blanched slightly. "God. Jen knew, didn't see?"

Grace quickly shook her head. "I'm not sure. Just… if she does, don't be angry with her. They told me at the SGC that the doctors here also had to abide by strict confidentiality agreements. Her hands were tied."

To his surprise, he held no anger toward the woman he'd grown to love over the last few months. "Grace, don't worry. It hurts, sure, that people around me knew something I should've found out about you for myself. But I understand. Especially with Jen. She was just doing her job."

Grace breathed a sigh of relief. "Good. I didn't want anything to come between the both of you."

"Yeah, well, I think Jen and I are pretty solid, so no worries there," John assured her. "Really. I'll talk to her. Explain that I know and that I'm not angry with her."

Grace wrapped her arms around his arm and leaned against him. "John?"

"Yeah?" he said, enjoying her trust.

"I'm really glad I came here," Grace said softly. "It's good to have family again. I'm liking having a brother. Makes me feel… safer."

He found himself having a lump in his throat. "Well, I wasn't around then, but I am now. Nothing… or no one… going to hurt you again."

They stayed there longer, not saying much but just enjoying each other's company. When it became dark, John walked her back to her room. He surprised them both by hugging her in the hallway and gently kissing her forehead before saying goodnight.

Before returning to his own quarters, he turned on his radio contacted the one other person in the city who completely had his heart.

* * *

Thanks for the read and reviews AND the messages. I won't even try and approximate when the next chapter will be up, but I'm starting it RIGHT NOW dang it! And with a baby in my lap and one about to wake up from a nap. Wish me luck! All hail anyone who has more than two kids. I don't know how you do it! :)


	13. Chapter 13

Wow, thanks to a sleeping baby, I cranked this out in an hour! Hope everyone enjoys it. Thanks for the patience with my updates!

* * *

Grace smoothed down her hair. The humidity in the kitchen had yanked stray strands out of her pony tail, leaving her hair clinging to her neck and face. Normally she didn't work clean up crew, but four workers had come down with the flu in the last two days. It left open shifts that needed to be filled quickly.

Setting the last dish into the tray, she arched her back. Everything was sore. Even though she'd gotten into shape these past few months by training with the men, dish washing required a whole set of different muscles.

"Hey," Evan stepped into the work area, instantly grinning at her appearance.

Grace immediately groaned inwardly. Perfect. The one person on Atlantis she'd rather not see right now, directly due to her appearance, happened to randomly show up minutes before she'd planned on leaving.

Sighing, she swiped her hair down. "Yeah. I know. I'm a disaster."

Evan tried to hide his grin. "Actually, it's not that bad."

"Liar."

He laughed. "Okay. I'll admit it's not one of your most beautiful moments."

Pushing her embarrassment aside, she made an attempt at laughing. "I don't know. Between what I look like after training with you and now, I'm pretty sure my 'wilted and crazy' look is predominantly how you end up seeing me."

"Grace, you're smart enough to know you're incredibly beautiful," Evan said, looking like he regretted opening his mouth once he said it. "I mean, if this is looking bad, Sheppard's going to have a hard time keeping the men around here at bay on what you'd call a 'good' day."

She flushed. "I think you've let Ronon hit you way too many times in the head during training, Evan." Rushing to cover her embarrassment over his words, she moved to grab her belongings before heading out for the night. "But thanks. I think."

Evan tactfully changed the topic.

"I'm here under orders from Sheppard," he said, walking ahead a few steps to open the kitchen door for her that led into the hallway. "He wants to you grab a quick shower and then report to his room."

"Why?" Grace instantly began to fell better now that she was outside of the humid kitchen.

"He planned a get together," Evan grinned. "Has he shown you his secret inventory?"

"Inventory?" Grace appeared puzzled. "Why does it sound like John's involved in some type of illegal activity based on that phrase?"

Evan rolled his eyes. "Games, Grace. He has old school Nintendo consoles and games in his room."

"Ah."

He followed alongside of her as she made her way to her quarters. "Ronon's addicted to all of the wrestling games. Doc gets into the Mario stuff."

She smiled. "And what does Evan Lorne enjoy?"

"The company," he grinned. "And the food."

"What food?" Grace said. "Anything I don't have to cook is a bonus."

Evan paused outside her door as she entered her code. "Junk food. Chips. Candy. Stuff you probably would frown upon."

"Hmm…" she laughed. "I guess you don't know me as well as I thought you did."

And there it was again. For the second… maybe third time in the past few minutes, they were lightly flirting with each other. Some may describe it as friendly banter, but each time she caught his eyes- and his smile- Grace would notice an underlying playfulness directed at her.

So even though she was bone tired, Grace found herself wanting to let him talk her into the night John had planned.

He stepped closer to her as she put her back to the open doorway. "So…" he peered into her room. "You're saying you have your own secret stash in here of... let's say Snickers?"

Grace tilted her head back and smirked at him. "Of course not."

"See. Just as I thought. Stuff like that is beneath a gourmet cook."

She grinned. "Gourmet cook?" Tilting her head slightly to the side, her eyes twinkled at him. "I'm liking the sound of that."

Evan's eyes narrowed as his hand came up and wiped a stray lock of hair away from her cheek. "Yeah. Just don't let it get to your head. We have enough of that around here with McKay around."

She wanted to stay like this… close to him and engaged in friendly flirting… longer, but a small group of men came from around the corner. Instantly, Evan's demeanor changed and he became Major Lorne once again.

"Gentlemen," he acknowledged the men as they passed her room. A few of them… one man in particular she'd seen looking at her before, eyed Grace and Evan for a few moments in speculation.

Not wanting to cause more curiosity, she beckoned her head. "Why don't you wait for me inside? I just have to shower and change in the bathroom."

Evan hesitated. "Better not. Why don't I go grab a few things from my room and swing back around in about 15 minutes?"

Flushing, she understood why he didn't want to come in. The hallway outside her door had a high traffic pattern… if anyone saw him going in- or coming out for that matter- it would instantly cause speculation in their relationship.

"I'll be ready," she nodded, then turned to close the door.

Minutes later in the shower, she ran over their conversation in her head. She may not have a ton of experience when it came to men, but Grace knew that Evan felt something toward her. And from what she'd learned about him since her arrival, Grace knew he wasn't the type to be openly flirtatious toward women.

But what she didn't understand is why he didn't do something about it. They'd spent countless hours alone- in training, during meal time, and a few times she'd even accompanied him as he painted on the balcony they both frequented- but not once had he made any attempt to bring up the subject.

But then again, neither had she. Sighing, she switched off the shower. The whole situation was something she never expected to encounter on her journey to Atlantis. Thinking it over, she decided that she'd talk to Jennifer about it the first chance she got.

In the meantime, Grace quickly hurried to get ready. She pulled on a pair of jeans, black ballet fashioned dress shoes, and a top that brought out the blue in her eyes. Muttering to herself as she lightly applied makeup, Grace scoffed at the thought that she was deliberately trying to look good for Evan. All of her life, she hated women who tried to catch a man's eye by the way they looked. And what was she doing right now?

Eying the clock, she decided she had time to dry her hair. She never left it down here- partly because she was either exercising, working, or training.

No, she went back to her thoughts. She was just taking the opportunity, outside of work, to look good for herself.

And if Evan appreciated the effort, then it was an extra bonus. She rolled her eyes. Who was she kidding?

* * *

Twenty minutes later, the pair headed to John's quarters.

Evan glanced at Grace again. She looked good. Too good. He'd never seen her with her hair down. It was longer than he'd imagined. And he'd imagined how it'd look that way a whole lot. More than he cared to admit.

She smelled good, too.

Trying his best to avoid looking at her hair- which framed her face and made her look even more beautiful- and trying to walk the right distance away as to not catch a wave of the light flowery scent coming from her, he attempted his best to act natural as they arrived at Sheppard's door.

He sighed. "Ah, Sheppard said to just come in. I know the code." He leaned over past her to enter it in.

Failed attempt #1 at keeping his distance. In order to get to the code box, he was merely inches away from her. He could've walked around her, but it would've made him look stupid.

When the door opened, he sighed in relief. Now, he could place some space between them by sitting somewhere away from her.

"Hey," Sheppard grinned, slouching next to Jennifer against the bed with one eye on them and one back on the game on the TV screen McKay had rigged to work with the Nintendo. "You're late. Have a seat. There's two spots next to Ronon over there."

Evan wanted to laugh at the situation. True to his word, there were two spots left by Ronon. And it was the _only_ two spots available.

Failed attempt #2.

Gesturing for Grace to go in front of him, they both climbed over sprawled limbs on the floor to get to the available floor space. Evan took the bag she was holding, containing whatever she'd brought to contribute to the food syash, along with his bag of pretzels. They passed McKay, who was arguing with Zelenka. Teyla, who had met Grace earlier in the week, warmly smiled at her as they passed her and Keller. The good doctor flushed as Evan couldn't help smiling at her sleepy body pressed up against Sheppard's arm. She'd be out within the hour, he thought. Evan nodded at and clasped hands of two of the men who were under his command on his team as they argued which character had a better chance at winning the game they had going on another monitor.

"Hey," Ronon greeted them. His eyes never left the screen. "There's food."

As they settled onto the floor, Grace glanced at Evan.

"A little cramped, huh?" she observed while trying to place her legs next to his.

Evan was trying his best not to think about it.

"So, I've been wondering the entire walk here. What did you bring?" Evan said, peering into the bag.

Grace chuckled. "So that's why you were so quiet."

Evan decided not to comment.

He watched her pull a bag of rolled Smarty candies out of her bag.

"No way!" Evan said, forgetting how hard he was trying to distance himself from her. "Smarties? I haven't had these since I was a kid."

She unwrapped one, offering it to him.

"It's one of my favorites," she said. "I had a teacher who'd give us one if we answered a question right in class."

"And I'm guessing you made it a point to study in that class, huh?" Evan grinned.

"You got that right," she said as she downed several pieces. "So what do you do when you come to gatherings like this?"

He shrugged. "Normally there are less people. Maybe you could sweet talk Ronon into letting you play?"

Grace observed the hulking man wildly leaning back and forth to mimic the movements of his player on the screen. Cursing, he muttered revenge on the monster who'd just stolen a "life" from him.

She looked back at Evan.

"Fat change of that happening," Grace said. "Anyway, I'm not much of a game person."

Evan eyed a deck of cards on the table next to Sheppard's bed.

"Rummy?" he asked.

Agreeing, Grace stood up and reached for the cards. Not quite able to get them, she began stepping over Evan's thigh just as he moved it out of her way. Squealing, she went off balance and tumbled into his lap.

She flushed as Evan starred down at her in surprise.

"What just happened?" He asked in amusement.

"Well, that's one way to create more space in here," Ronon grunted, immediately returning to his game.

Grace stared up at him, flushing. "I fell."

Evan's mouth twitched up. "I noticed."

Evan began to notice others looking around at them. He gripped her arms and helped her up.

"What happened?" Sheppard called over to them over the noise of the three monitors going. "She fall again, Lorne?"

Evan groaned.

Grace reached for the cards, then leaned over to smack John on the head.

"Ow," Sheppard complained. "What? I was just making an observation. But Grace, you really need to have Jen check to see if there's something wrong with you. You have a problem staying on your feet."

Keller, half awake but grinned when she witnessed Grace's fall, sent Grace a look and gave John another smack.

"Whoa," Sheppard complained. "What was that for?"

"It was from your sister," Keller said. "There's nothing wrong with her. Evan just gives her bad luck when she's around him."

Evan sent Keller a look. "Is that an official diagnosis, doc?"

Keller peered around John's arm, which had snaked around her small frame at some point of the conversation.

"It can be, Major," she snickered. "But I'm sure there are other possibilities I could uncover."

Lorne just sent her a censoring stare. Keller laughed.

"Sorry about that," Grace shook her head. "Still want to play?"

"Yeah," Evan said, taking the cards from her and dealing them.

They played for an hour, slowly forgetting the incident of Grace's fall. Evan had made the winnings for each round as food. Soon, Grace and Evan had a small stack of candy and popcorn nestled next to their laps.

"Done?" He said as they began to tire of the game.

"Yeah." Grace said, popping the candy into her mouth. "I'm going to regret eating all of this junk tomorrow."

Evan grinned, throwing popcorn into the air and catching it with his mouth. Chewing, he eyed her.

"Care for a new game?"

Her eyes widened as he tossed the popcorn into the air above her. Not catching it in time, she laughed.

"Seriously?" Grace asked, throwing the popcorn back at his head.

"No, really. Try and catch one."

The new game started. People around them grinned at their antics.

On the other side of the room, Jennifer sleepily watched the pair.

"They're cute," she murmured.

"What?" John asked, distracted. "Who's cute?"

"Lorne and your sister," Jennifer responded without thinking. "I mean, what they're doing."

"Good," John chuckled. "For a minute I thought you meant Lorne was cute."

Jennifer chuckled. At first, she was scared he'd picked up on her referring to them as a couple. Men, she thought.

"Yeah, John. I'm madly in love with your SIC. That's why I'm with you. To get to him."

John took his attention off the game and yanked on her hair. "Don't mess with me, doctor." He quickly glanced around, saw that no one was watching, and quickly dropped a kiss on her lips.

"Hey," Rodney complained. "No PDA."

"It's my room, McKay," John said, but embarrassed McKay had witnessed the exchange.

"Keep it up and I'll accidentally let it slip that you're dating," McKay joked, clearing in his element because he was beating Zelenka at a game.

Jennifer smirked. "How about you keep it up and I won't bribe Grace to slip orange juice in the next meal the kitchen makes."

Rodney blanched. "Huh. You wouldn't."

Her eyes narrowed. "Try me."

Grace, on the other side of the room, had to grin at Jennifer's threat.

"Relax, McKay," she called over to him. Despite not knowing him as well as Ronon and Evan, she felt comfortable enough with continuing Jennifer's goading. "I would never use orange juice in a meal without telling you."

McKay brightened.

Grace murmured to Evan. "Now lemon juice is another story."

"I heard that!" Rodney yelled out.

Lorne roared with laughter. He held her gaze as they grinned at each other.

Breaking eye contact, he caught both Keller and Ronon smiling at the couple. Keller went a step further and gave him the thumbs up.

He ducked his head. He was in trouble. Pretty soon, it would be evident to everyone that he had feelings for Sheppard's sister.

It was time for him to make a decision. Deciding to think about it overnight, Evan knew he had a choice to make.

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Thanks for the read and reviews. Next chapter up soon, I hope!


	14. Chapter 14

Shocking, I know! Another chapter is up!

Note: If you read this prior to this upload, I fixed a MAJOR mistake. I misread the rank information and had Wiltner as a captain. I thought it was Lt. Colonel, checked, and read the ranking info backwards ;) Oops! It's all fixed now! Thanks to those who caught it!

* * *

Feeling surprisingly energized the next day, Grace worked a short time in the kitchen before leaving at lunch for the day. Schedules were made, meals had been prepped or instructions were left... workers who'd been sick had returned. She took the opportunity to take the rest of the day off to make up for the extra hours she'd worked all week.

Her first priority was to return back to her room to get ready for the day. She'd overslept and had missed her shower before heading to the kitchen. The group in John's room hadn't dispersed until after 2 a.m., which was later than she usually stayed up.

Grace enjoyed a long, relaxing shower before taking her time to get ready. Dressed again in jeans, a new shirt she'd purchased before coming to Atlantis, and leaving her hair down for the second day in a row, she headed to the mess hall after her stomach began to protest that it needed attention.

One glance around the room showed her usual group not there yet. She found herself looking for one specific person, even though Grace knew he wouldn't be there. She'd overheard John say they had meetings all afternoon. Since the room was just beginning to fill up, she decided to sit by herself and hoped someone would join her soon.

"Hey," Jennifer said, holding a tray and coming up from behind her. "Fancy meeting you here."

Grace grinned as she sat. "Didn't make it much past midnight last night, did you?"

Jennifer shrugged. "I had an early shift in the infirmary yesterday. I told John if he had those things in the morning, I wouldn't fall asleep."

"I don't think he minded, seeing as he provided you with a comfortable spot to rest," Grace reminded her, remembering how John had pulled a sleeping Jennifer against him while still playing his game. Her arm had snaked around his waist while her head had rested on his chest. If she'd had a camera, she would've taken a picture of the couple.

Not embarrassed at all, Jennifer sighed. "Your brother is quite the comfortable pillow."

The ate in silence for a few minutes before Jennifer eyed Grace.

"What?" Grace asked, wondering if she had something in her teeth.

Jennifer just smiled before starting. "You've gotten to know Evan pretty well in the past few months. I was just wondering if something was going on more than friendship between the two of you."

"Nope," Grace quickly replied. "Nothing going on there."

She stared off to the side, trying to act nonchalant. And hide her disappointment.

Jennifer smirked. "Yeah, right. I've watched you both. Neither one of you can take your eyes off of each other when you're in a room together. Whenever John needs to give you a message or asks the guys to do something for him involving you, he's the one that automatically volunteers."

Grace picked at her food. "Do you think he's just doing that to follow orders?"

This time, the doctor snorted. "Yes. And a big no."

Looking up, Grace pinned Jennifer with a look. "Clarify."

"Well," Jennifer said, clearly enjoying herself, "He is following orders. But I'd say he's going above and beyond the call of duty."

Jennifer rolled her eyes when Grace still looked torn. "Come clean. Do you have feelings for him?"

Grace leaned her hand against her head as she finished her lunch. "Possibly."

The room grew louder as a group of men sat down at the table next to them.

"So what are you waiting for?" Jennifer asked.

"A clear sign that he feels the same way," Grace complained. "I'm not good at this stuff, Jen."

Jennifer, however, was directing her attention at the table next to them. Flicking a glance back at Jennifer, she frowned.

"What?" Grace asked.

"Nothing," Jennifer replied. "I think." Shaking her head, she returned her attention back to Grace. "Someone like Evan isn't going to make a move. Especially considering who you are to John."

"You think he'd be worried about John's reaction?"

Jennifer just rolled her eyes again. "Of course. He respects John too much not to dismiss the fact that you're related."

Grace saw her friend's attention once more directed at the table of men.

"Jen, what's up?" Grace said, turning around.

"No, don't-" Jennifer warned, then sighed.

One of the men stood and headed over to their table.

"Now you did it," Jennifer murmured. "This one is a pest."

"Ladies," the man sat down. "Dr. Keller, I don't think I've had the opportunity to meet our new chef."

Jennifer looked like the last thing she wanted to do was introduce Grace to the man.

"Lt. Colonel," Jennifer said in her professional tone. "Allow me to introduce Grace Sullivan. Grace, this is Lt. Colonel Wiltner. He's been on Atlantis a few times since I've arrived."

Grace gave him an obligatory smile. "It's nice to meet you, Lt. Colonel."

Lt. Colonel Wiltner wasn't a bad looking man. In fact, he was quite easy on the eyes. But what bothered Grace was the way he was looking at her... as if _he _was doing a favor by paying attention to her.

"Call me Dan," Lt. Colonel Wiltner said, moving slightly in toward Grace. "You know, I've noticed you around lately. You've seemed to quickly acclimate to the city. I heard this is your first trip to Atlantis."

Grace nodded, pushing away her tray. She quickly glanced at the frown forming on Jennifer's face.

"Yes," Grace confirmed. "When Colonel Sheppard was on leave a few months pack, he petitioned for a formal cook to return with him to Atlantis. I interviewed for the position."

A slight lie, but Grace felt it was called for.

"Ah," Lt. Colonel Wiltner said. "That solves the mystery a few of us having been debating."

"A mystery?" Grace questioned. "What have people been wondering about?"

"Whether you are dating the Colonel," Wiltner said, laughing. "Mind if I ask you if you are seeing him? Or is good 'ole Sheppard just showing you around since he was in charge of hiring you?"

Grace hurt the muffled snort coming from Jennifer.

And so did the Lt. Colonel, who glanced at her in disapproval.

"Sorry," Jennifer muttered. "Choked on my salad."

Grace tried to pry his attention of her friend. She didn't like the way he was looking at Jennifer.

"The answer to your question is no," Grace replied. "I'm not seeing him. Or anyone, for that matter."

Jennifer's eyes told her she shouldn't have said the last part.

Wiltner instantly became more friendly.

"Well, that's great news," he said. "How about I show you around Atlantis tonight. A private tour."

"No, thanks," Grace said without missing a beat. "I've actually gotten around pretty well so far. But thank you for the invitation."

The Lt. Colonel was obviously not used to being brushed aside. Glancing back at his table and seeing the men watching the exchange, he looked back at her with a determined look.

"I'm sure someone like yourself is cleared to date," he said.

"She's cleared," Jennifer said firmly. "Just not interested, Lt. Colonel."

The man flushed red. Not in embarrassment, but in anger.

Not for the first time in the conversation, Grace became slightly worried that the man was more dangerous than he looked.

"I think Major Lorne is looking for a seat here," Jennifer said loudly, spying Evan coming up to their table.

Grace was mortified. It was embarrassing enough to deal with a man like Wiltner, who thought every woman should fall at his feet. But to go through the exchange in front of Evan...

"Doc," Evan nodded. "Grace."

Angry now, and embarrassed, Wiltner got to his feet. Directing an angry glance at Jennifer, and then Grace, he cocked his chin up and gave a leer.

"I see how it is," he said in a low voice.

Evan set down his tray.

"Lt. Colonel, with all due respect," Evan said, clearly dropping disdain on the word "respect," "I think the women would like to be left alone now."

"Yup," Jennifer piped up, now feeling more bold since Evan's arrival. "You are correct, major."

The Lt. Colonel just looked down at Evan.

"I think you should mind your own business, _major,_" Wiltner said, stepping close to Evan.

Sensing it would irritate Evan, the Lt. Colonel placed a hand on Grace's shoulder and squeezed. "I'm working on getting Grace here to accompany me on a date tonight. See, some of us around here do more than just work."

Evan's eyes narrowed as the Lt. Colonel's hand lingered on her shoulder.

"Hands off, Lt. Colonel," he said.

"What?" Wiltner said. "You going to do something about it, Lorne? Toss that rule book and kiss up attitude toward Sheppard out the door? I dare you. Make a move."

Evan's eyes didn't leave the Lt. Colonel's. By now, the tables surrounding them were watching the exchange.

Angry that the man still hadn't removed his hand, Evan firmly yanked it off of Grace's shoulder.

"Leave while you have some dignity, Lt. Colonel," Lorne muttered. "I don't think she's interested."

The Lt. Colonel grinned. "I think I see what's happening here," he directed a disgusted glance at Grace. "You see, I've seen these ladies around you, Sheppard, and Ronon quite a bit lately. And you've been hanging around our cook's quarter's pretty often." He raised his voice. "It sounds like the three of you have something exclusive going on with these women that no one else can share, huh?"

The Lt. Colonel barely finished his sentence before Evan hands shot forward and yanked the other man's shirt toward him. "Apologize to them. Now."

Obviously surprised at Evan's actions, the Lt. Colonel recovered and said something filthy about both Jennifer and Grace. And then he yanked out of Evan's grasp and slugged him in the stomach.

Evan barely flinched. Recovering quickly, he drew back one fist and plowed it into the man's jaw.

The Lt. Colonel flailed back, tripped over a chair, and landed on his back.

Jennifer swore, standing up. Grace just stood, unable to move away from the table.

The Lt. Colonel, enraged, flew to his feet and came back at Evan.

The men began to fight. By now, the entire mess hall was standing up, looking to see what was happening.

Ronon, in the mean time, had arrived at the table. He had a huge grin on his face. Jennifer looked at him in disbelief.

"Ronon!" she yelled at him. "Do something."

He shook his head in disbelief. "Lorne finally snapped. It's about time."

Disgusted, she grabbed his radio and opened a channel to John. Ronon, having had his fill of watching Evan go off on the Lt. Colonel that no one liked on Atlantis, waited a few more seconds before separating the two men.

In the end, Lorne had a slightly red cheek. Wiltner, however, had blood pouring down his face from a cut and was bent over in pain.

"Nice, Lorne," Ronon mumbled at him so no one could hear.

Jennifer muttered her disapproval at the situation and Ronon, throwing the radio at Ronon and moving to Evan to check his injuries. No one missed that she didn't even glance at Wiltner, who was still bent over in pain.

"Sheppard," Ronon spoke through the radio now that John had responded to Jennifer's radio call. "There's been a fight in the mess."

"Great," Sheppard said with sarcasm. Since his time in Atlantis, there'd been a few to deal with and it wasn't all that uncommon. "Who was involved?"

"Wiltner," Ronon said, pausing dramatically. "And Lorne."

"Lorne?" Sheppard's voice came through the radio. "Seriously?"

"Yup," Ronon said with pride.

"Send them to my office," Sheppard said.

Resigned, Jennifer had stood up and was walking over to Wiltner. The man had finally gained the strength to stand. Ronon immediately followed her and stood close while she examined the large man.

"He needs stitches," Jennifer pronounced, an ever slight turn of her mouth showed she wasn't that sympathetic about it. "The Lt. Colonel will need to report to the infirmary first."

"Lorne, you okay?" Ronon said, eying the bruise forming on his cheek.

Evan nodded, his eyes darting to Grace. She still stood near the table, just watching the events unfold in front of her. He noticed Teyla approaching the table and caught her eye. In a silent message, he looked at Grace and looked back at Teyla. She nodded, walking over to Grace and touching her arm.

Knowing Grace would be in good hands, and that Ronon was leading Wiltner to the infirmary with Jennifer, Evan took one final glance around him. Everyone was shocked at the altercation. Never before had anyone witnessed him break even a small rule on Atlantis, with the exception of once being infected by something out of his control and pulling a gun on several people in the city.

He'd just fought- and injured- a superior officer.

Evan found himself not afraid of whatever fate awaited him in Sheppard's office. He was more concerned about how Grace felt about him now. Seeing the violence in front of her, it didn't shock him to find her dazed a bit afterward. If she grew up with violence, he wouldn't bet she would react in fear by seeing it unfold around her again.

He couldn't have let Wiltner get away with touching Grace, or with the words he'd directed at both women. Evan knew, with no doubt, that both Sheppard and Ronon would've done the same thing. Ronon would've done even more damage.

But it didn't change the fact that he'd done it as a major.

Resigned, he walked out of the cafeteria. But as he left, he turned when he heard a few tables clapping as he passed. And several members of the military- particularly women and those who'd worked with Wiltner, stood up.

He nodded in appreciation.

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Thanks for the read and review! I'm already half way done with the next chapter, folks! Hoping to finish it by early this week.


	15. Chapter 15

Hoping for no posting problems with this chapter. If you haven't heard, FF had a ton this weekend. It took my chapter 14 almost 24 hours to show without the "type 2" error.

Thanks again to those who noticed the mistake in my last chapter.

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Sheppard shut the door.

"I must be dreaming," Sheppard said, hands running through his hair. "Of all the people on base, you're the last I'd ever expect to get into a fight. Jeez, Lorne."

Evan remained silent as Sheppard sat down.

"Mind telling me what happened?" Sheppard asked.

He thought about every word Wiltner had said and done prior to the fight. And each time, it enraged him to think about the man and the uniform he wore. Evan had never seen anyone abuse their power or talk to a woman like that in the city.

"Sir, I-" Evan started.

"Drop the 'sir' crap, Lorne," Sheppard hissed. "You're in a boatload of trouble. You punched and injured a _superior_ officer. How am I going to get you out of this? Ronon, I could see this happening to. Not you."

Just then, Ronon opened the door.

"Wiltner's under guard. Jen's patching him up. No serious damage." Ronon smirked. "Lorne just messed up that pretty face of his and got a good shot in to his manhood. He'll live."

Sheppard hissed. "One of you better tell me what the heck went on down there. Now."

Evan finally spoke, detailing the events from the time he approached the women to when Ronon showed up. He didn't detail what had been said. Sheppard picked up on it immediately.

"Major, what exactly did he say to them?"

Evan clamped his jaw shut, not wanting to repeat it.

John darted a glance at Ronon. Ronon shrugged, saying he didn't hear it.

"Lorne, I don't want to pull my sister and Jennifer down here because my second-in-command, on top of hitting a ranking officer today, is refusing to talk about an incident I'm ordering him to report on."

Evan sighed. He didn't want Grace to have to relive the events.

He detailed exactly the horrible words Wiltner had said about them.

Evan wasn't surprised when Sheppard leaped to his feet. He walked around the desk, stopping to glance at Ronon.

"He's still in the infirmary?" Sheppard said with a deadly look in his eye.

Evan jumped up, moving in front of him. It was clear that Sheppard was about to charge into the infirmary and do bodily damage- more than he had- to Wiltner.

"Don't," Evan said. "Seriously, it won't help. I knocked him to the ground and I still want to go after him again. You'll end up regretting it."

Sheppard's rage didn't simmer.

"Move," he said.

"Lorne's right," Ronon said, blocking the door.

Disgusted, Sheppard backed down.

For a few moments, the three of them said nothing.

Finally, Sheppard spoke up. "Lorne, as far as I can tell, you did the right thing. Wiltner was acting inappropriate to a female personal member on the expedition. When you asked him to back down, he threw the first punch. You were merely defending yourself."

Ronon smirked. "If anyone asks me, Lorne did more than defend himself."

"I'm counting on that," Sheppard eyed Evan. "You continue to surprise me, Evan. But for what it's worth, I'm glad to know someone was watching out for Grace. In fact, it seems like I keep on thanking you for saving her."

Evan still was recovering from the fact that Sheppard wasn't going to write him up- or worse, send him back to Earth- for the events that'd happened. Shaking his head, he stepped forward. "Sheppard, about that-"

The door opened again. Grace quickly walked in, immediately spotting her brother and maneuvered around Ronon and Evan.

"John, you can't blame Evan for what happened," she said in a hurry. "Jen said Evan could get recalled back to Earth for this. And more. That man-"

"Grace," Sheppard said, gently gripping her shoulders. "It's alright. I heard what happened and the only one getting sent back to Earth is the Lt. colonel."

Just then, Jennifer walked in, followed by two Marine's escorting Wiltner himself.

"Sheppard, let's get this over with," Wiltner said, as if he was in the right. "I'm assuming since you're chummy with your second-in-command that you're going to take his side, send me back to Earth, where no one will think about doing anything about the situation."

"Why?" Sheppard bit out. "Because your Daddy is a general? Sorry, Wiltner, but you already have two incidents in your file here from women who say you harassed them. They're pretty sensitive to these type of incidents back home."

The man, still cocky, saw Sheppard's hands on Grace.

"Whatever, Sheppard. We'll see what happens. And it looks like I was right, major," he directed the statement at Evan, still putting up a front that he'd come out with the upper hand. "Sheppard's getting all the breaks when it comes to these two ladies."

Evan and Ronon, both ready to pounce on the man, were no where near faster than Sheppard. In an instant, he jumped the distance between him and the Lt. colonel and punched him square in the jaw.

Wiltner, for the second time, landed hard on the floor.

"Wow," Ronon said. "For once, my services are not needed. Kinda sucks, though."

Evan grinned.

Grace, surprising everyone, walked over to the man, who was attempting to regain his footing.

She knelt down to his level. "Lt. colonel, I'd stay down if I were you. In fact, I'd highly recommend it." Grace rose, looking down at him. "And by the way. I'm his sister, you jerk."

Wiltner looked at the pair in surprise.

Jennifer sighed. "Back to the infirmary, Wiltner. You seemed to have set a record for the most stitches needed in one day."

Finally, the man decided to refrain from speaking.

Evan moved to Grace's side while Jennifer led Wiltner out of the room, with Ronon and Sheppard following them.

"Hey, can we talk?" Evan said in a low voice.

When she nodded, he began walking out of the room. "Alone. Meet on the balcony in an hour? I'd like to get cleaned up first."

"Sure," she said, noticing for the first time he had blood on his shirt. "You're sure you're okay?"

"Barely a scratch on me," Evan said with a slight smirk. "It's his blood. He's all talk. If he spent more time working out and training and less time harassing women-"

Grace frowned, remembering what had happened.

"Sorry," Evan said.

"Grace," Sheppard said, slowing down and walking up to them. "You sure you're okay?"

Evan backed away, walking back to his room as Grace talked with Sheppard. Taking a deep breath, he began thinking in his head what he planned on saying to her later.

* * *

The doors opened to the balcony. Evan wasn't surprised that she was already there, starring up into the sky.

"Sorry," he said. "After I was done in my room, I went back to Sheppard's office to fill out the paperwork on Wiltner."

Grace nodded and returned her gaze to the night sky.

He quickly assumed she was angry about earlier.

"Grace, I'm sorry about all of that," Evan said. "For what Wiltner said and how I reacted."

She turned, puzzled. "Why are you apologizing for him?"

He shrugged. "I guess I'm offering a general apology for all of the jerks in the world like him on behalf of my gender."

Laughing, she looked at him as he stepped next to her.

Evan hesitated. "So, you're not mad that I punched him?"

"Evan, you did more than punch the man," she teased. "You leveled him. But why would I be mad that you came to our rescue?"

"I don't know?" he said helplessly. "Because sometimes women don't appreciate that nowadays... especially since you can handle yourself well enough based on what I've seen in our training sessions."

Grace gave him a soft smile. She sympathetically looked at the bruise forming on his cheek. Raising on her tip toes, she looked into his eyes and brushed a kiss over the spot.

Evan stilled.

"What was that for?"

"For coming to my rescue," she said, still inches away from him. "And for the angry, blue marks that are forming on your face."

"Yeah, it still hurts," he said, moving another inch into her space. "Bad."

Sensing he was flirtatiously teasing her, she smiled a bit. Deciding to be bold again, Grace tilted her head up and intended on kissing him in the same spot again. To her surprise, Evan quickly shifted his head so that her lips came in contact with his at the last minute.

Slightly shocked, she paused, eyes opened, and then returned the kiss.

After a few moments, Evan pulled back.

"Since you didn't slap me, I'm hoping you were okay with that," he said, hands still gently hold her head. He began stroking her hair, looking down at her.

"More than okay," Grace breathed.

He gave a sigh of relief, pulling her back up to him and resuming the kiss.

They continued for minutes, both lost in each others arms. She wrapped her arms tightly around his frame, eager to be closer to him.

"Grace," he said, not fully ending the kiss but alternating between kissing and talking. "Does this mean you'd be interested in more than a friendship?" He said, kissing her after his question and then pulling back again. "I mean, as in dating me?"

Kissing him still, she laughed softly against his lips. "Evan, do you even have to ask that question?"

"Just making sure," he teased, running his hands through her hair. "For the record, I _really _like your hair this way. You've been driving me crazy the last few days."

"Good," she said, disappointed he'd stopped kissing her. Instead, she laid her head against his chest as he pulled her tightly against him.

She felt him sigh.

"I'm going to have to go talk to your brother," Evan murmured.

"Now?" she joked.

"Absolutely not," Evan replied, tightening his arms. "We're not moving for awhile, so get comfortable."

"I am," she sighed contently.

They stood wrapped up in each other for a long time, occasionally pulling back to kiss each other.

"Grace, you're sure about this?" Evan questioned her at one point. "I'm not rushing things for you, am I? Do you want to think about this?"

She furrowed her brows. "Of course. Why would I want more time to think about us? You've been on my mind for weeks, Evan. I'm sure. Trust me."

"But this isn't why you came here," he reasoned. "You came to get to know your brother. And for the job. Not to date someone who could be recalled... or worse... at any time. I'm not the most stable person to get involved in."

"Evan," she laughed. "I've never met a man who kissed me brainless one minute and then tried to talk me out of being with him the next."

He looked relieved, but she continued anyway.

"I get it," she said. "The job. It won't make me worry less when you're off world. And I hope your orders don't change and that you stay on Atlantis while I'm here. But if you're recalled, I'll transfer back to Earth."

"No," he immediately said. "You can't do that. What about Sheppard?"

Grace reasoned with him. "John and I have spent more time together than I could've hoped for. And I think he would understand my wanting to return to Earth. He knows this is not permanent and that I'm here just for as long as I want."

Evan sighed. "Grace, I have a feeling you think Sheppard is going to be happy about us. I don't think it's going to go over that smoothly."

"Don't be stupid," she scoffed. "John has a lot of respect for you. He likes you off duty as well. What could he have a problem with?"

Evan just shook his head. "Oh, I could name a few things. But instead, I'll think positively and hope for the best."

She pulled back, stepping away from him. "You're really that nervous about telling him?"

"Nervous?" Evan repeated. "No. More like worried. About what he'll think. And how he'll react."

"Why don't I just tell him then?" Grace offered. "Besides, he doesn't get a say on who I date."

Evan groaned. "Grace, let me handle this. Especially if you go off on him saying that kind of stuff."

"Let me guess?" she said, reaching down to hold his hands."This is a brother thing."

"You've got that right," he admitted. Squeezing her hands, he looked at her. "Tomorrow. Sometime during our mission I'll talk with him."

Grace couldn't resist messing with him. "I don't know if that's such a good idea, Evan. I mean, he'll be armed."

He pulled her back against him, kissing her again. "The problem is that Sheppard is _always_ armed. At least I'll have witnesses, though."

Rolling her eyes, she pulled his head down again.

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Thanks for the read and review. It'll be several days until the next chapter, unfortunately.


	16. Chapter 16

"Are you ready?" Grace asked Jennifer as the other woman met her outside her room. "I just need to get changed. There was a problem in the kitchen during breakfast prep."

The pair had planned to get a run in before breakfast.

"I'm ready, but do you mind if we swing by the gate room on the way to your room?" Jennifer asked. "John's leaving in a few minutes on that two day mission and I'd like to see him go. I didn't get a chance to say good-bye last night because I was on duty."

Grace smiled. "Sure."

As they began walking, Grace remembered Evan was also leaving as well.

"Now that the cat's out of the bag, I'm sure I can give John a quick hug before leaving," Grace said. "I'm sure Wiltner told at least one person last night. And that person probably told twenty more."

Jennifer nodded. "Affirmative. A few nurses asked me this morning to confirm the gossip. It's spread throughout Atlantis by now."

The doctor looked at Grace in concern.

"Is it a bad thing? Everyone knowing?"

Grace shook her head. "No. I'm glad we were able to have as much time as we did without anyone knowing. It gave us more of a chance to get acquainted without complications."

"Good," Jennifer said, then paused. "Actually, John and I are debating whether to come out of secrecy ourselves."

Surprised, Grace paused as they passed through the doors into the control room.

"Really?" she said. "So what's your thinking on that?"

Jennifer sighed. "I don't know. It's like you said... the less people know, the less complications there are. When people find out, it'll be awkward. Some will speculate how long it'll last... others will wonder if I'll get special treatment."

"But then again," Grace pointed out. "Less rude men to deal with in the infirmary. Or getting hit on the newbies."

"True," Jennifer laughed. "I never thought about the positives, other than being able to occasionally give him a quick kiss goodbye before a mission. That is, unless Rodney freaks out about PDA again."

Grace chuckled. "There's that."

Jennifer got a mischievous look on her face.

"Anyone you're wanting to give a quick kiss to in this group?"

Blushing, Grace grinned. "Possibly."

Taken back, Jennifer eyed her friend. Then her eyes narrowed.

"You guys talked last night, didn't you?"

Remembering their conversation on the balcony, as well as kissing Evan, she just kept silent.

Jennifer dug in, not letting her escape the line of questioning.

"More than talking?" she said, yanking on her arm. "As in, he finally made a move?"

Deciding to give in, Grace teased. "Well, actually I started it. See, he had this bruise forming on his face..."

Inhaling, Jennifer squeezed her arm. "And..."

"Well," Grace continued. "I had to make it feel better, seeing as we caused the pain."

"You _kissed_ him?"

"Yup," Grace said, fondly remembering the moment that led up to their first kiss. "On the cheek. And then he said it still hurt."

Sighing, Jennifer covered her hand to her heart. "Cheesy, Evan, but it worked. So you kissed him again?"

"Well, I started to," Grace sighed. "But then he moved."

Disappointed, Jennifer frowned.

Grace laughed. "He moved, and I ended up missing his cheek... and getting his lips instead."

"Holy smokes!" Jennifer said. "I can't believe the two of you actually stopped the dancing around the matter and took action."

Jennifer paused.

"Does John know yet?"

Grace shook her head, shrugging. "Evan said he'd talk to him during the mission. Honestly, he's kinda making a big deal about it. I thought I'd just mention it to John so that he wasn't surprised hearing it from someone else, but Evan thought it needed more formality. I mean, it's not like he's asking for my hand in marriage."

They had reached the group forming in the gate room by this time, but Jennifer forced Grace to stop.

"Um, I think he's right," Jennifer said. "From what I've learned, brothers can be a pain about seeing their sister's date."

Grace rolled her eyes. "Jen, it's not as if we grew up together. Like I said to Evan, it's different for us. We're adults. John won't make this into a big deal."

Shaking her head, Jennifer couldn't help but smile.

"I'll tell you what, I'd pay to see that reaction," Jennifer admitted, looking at the two men in question. "Big bucks, too."

* * *

"Lorne, you got everything?" John asked, seeing that his team was finished loading up their stuff.

"My team is all set," Evan replied.

Spying the two women approaching, Sheppard smiled.

"Jen wanted to say goodbye," Sheppard said, walking toward them. "Grace must've wanted to come, too. That's nice."

Evan turned around, surprised to see Grace. Her attention wasn't on Sheppard, but Evan.

Luckily, Sheppard didn't notice.

"Colonel, I need to speak with you about a private matter before you embark," Jennifer said, with a slight twinkle in her eye. Although everyone on his team, including Lorne and Grace, knew about their relationship, Lorne's team and the rest in the gate room did not.

"Sure," John said, unable to hide a small grin.

Grace walked up to Evan.

"Be careful," she said. "With the mission."

"Not with talking with Sheppard?" he teased, although he looked a bit nervous despite the joking. "You're giving him a lot of credit, you know. No one wants a man messing around with their baby sister."

She scoffed. "I think you're nuts. But Jennifer agrees with you, it seems."

He leaned in. "So, did you come to see off your brother?" And then his voice dropped. "Or me?"

Her head tilted up in amusement. "Both." Then she looked around. "But mostly you. So... can I give you a good luck kiss?"

Horrified, he backed away. "No. Are you kidding me? Don't get me shot before we leave."

"Who's going to get shot?" Ronon walked up to the pair.

"Nothing," Evan said. "Grace and I were just talking."

Deciding to put his fears to rest, Grace decided to make an executive decision.

"Evan and I are involved," Grace said quickly before Evan could stop her. "And he's concerned that John won't be happy for us. What do you think?"

"Involved?" Ronon just stared at the both of them. "As in, you're together now? Huh. It's about time."

Evan just glared at the bigger man.

Laughing, Ronon turned to leave. 'Yup. You're a dead man, Lorne."

Evan looked pointedly back at Grace. "Since we're early in this relationship, I won't say 'I told you so.'"

Seeing Jennifer return with John, she sighed. Since John's back was to them, she rose up and quickly kissed Evan's cheek and then whispered low to him. "I don't care what he thinks about us. And as silly as this may sound to you, or to some since it's only been a few months... I'm already in love with you, Evan. "

Stunned at her admission, he recovered quickly before giving her a full smile.

"You decide now to tell me that?" He said. "When we're surrounded and I can't do anything about it?"

Innocently, she backed away from him. "Why? What would you do?"

Evan gave her a threatening look. "I'll see you when I get back."

Smiling, Grace turned to leave with Jennifer. Pausing for a moment to give John a quick peck and hug, she murmured for him to be safe.

"How was that private matter you had to see John about?" Grace teased, once they were several steps away.

Jennifer grinned. "Great. And did you get a kiss in as well?"

"Cheek," she replied. "He wouldn't go for anything else."

"Hey, Grace," Evan called over the noise of the worm hole activating. He gave her a serious look. "Same here."

Several people turned when he yelled out her name, including Sheppard. Grace smiled widely at Evan, then gave John a final wave seeing his confusion.

"What was that all about?" Sheppard asked.

Evan sighed. Eying Sheppard's weapon, he avoided his eyes. "It's a long story. I'll tell you later."

Satisfied, Sheppard turned around, gave each woman a wave, and stepped through the gate after Evan.

* * *

Sorry, didn't mean to leave it here but I didn't have much of a choice. If I didn't cut it here, the next chapter will be incredibly long. Thank you to those reading and to those who left reviews on the last chapter. It gave me motivation to write this one quickly. Next chapter up soon!


	17. Chapter 17

Hours into the mission, Ronon continued to watch Lorne sweat. Grinning, he found himself happy for the couple. Grace had quickly worked her way into the typically quiet major's heart but had also brought out a fierce protective side to the man that Ronon was amused to observe.

Now, however, he found it quite funny to watch Lorne obviously calculating how to approach Sheppard. Up until now, Lorne had been professional during the mission. The team had completed their task of retrieving data and samples from the planet. There were rumors of a rogue camp outside of the village who were not friendly with strangers, so everyone was on their guard. But now, seeing as they'd just set up camp and Lorne wasn't in charge of watch duty until a few more hours, Ronon laughed at the man's uncertainty.

"Ronon," Sheppard said, beckoning him over. He glanced at Lorne before speaking again. "Is something up with Lorne? He seems unusually agitated."

Determined not to break into a grin, Ronon pretended to play dumb. "Not a clue. Ask him."

Sheppard shrugged. "I'm sure it's nothing. I'll wait and see."

Walking back toward the others, Sheppard called out to the teams. "All right, listen up. Lorne and I will take the next watch coming up, followed by Ronon and Teyla. The rest of you, get some rest. We're leaving first thing in the morning."

Feeling empathy for the man, Ronon walked over to Lorne.

"You know, he may not shoot you," Ronon said seriously. "Sheppard hates paperwork. Something like that would require him to fill out papers, right?"

Lorne starred back at him. "Funny, Ronon. Absolutely hilarious. It's great that you decide now to develop a sense of humor. Besides, I'm more scared he won't think I'm good enough for her."

"I don't think you need to be that worried," Ronon's nose twitched. "And I've always had a sense of humor. Never felt the need to let others know. I haven't killed Rodney yet, have I?"

But Lorne wasn't listening. Instead, he walked away from the camp and didn't return until his watch with Sheppard.

* * *

Evan shook the nerves running through his body and returned to camp. The walk had helped clear his head. He had everything planned in his head. What he'd say... how he'd calm Sheppard down... everything would work out fine.

Hopefully.

"Lorne," Sheppard surprised him from behind. "Where have you been?"

Heart racing, he exhaled a breath. "Needed a walk. Wasn't feeling good."

Sheppard looked like he'd figured something out. "Ah. Okay, you're good to go, then?"

Lorne glanced at his watch. "Yes, sir. And I think my men will be happy to be relieved. Both of them just came off a mission yesterday and didn't get much rest."

They walked together in silence.

"Before we relieve them, Sheppard, I'd like to ask you something."

Sheppard gripped his weapon for a few moments, then turned it to his side. Evan eyed him warily. For a moment, he wondered if Sheppard knew something was up. Nodding, Sheppard gestured for them to walk to a few logs that were laying across the land.

They sat. Clearing his throat, Evan kept his eyes on the treeline.

"Mind if I speak freely, Sheppard?"

Sheppard looked at him curiously.

Not waiting for him to answer, Evan continued to watch their surroundings.

"It's about Grace," he began, finally breaking down and looking straight at Sheppard.

Concerned, Sheppard looked at him. "What about her? Is someone bothering her?"

"No," Evan quickly returned. "Nothing like that."

There was several moments of silence. Evan saw Sheppard looking at him expectantly.

It was now or never.

"Sheppard," he said, speaking from his heart. His rehearsed speech was no longer in his head. "You've always been honest with me. And I have a lot of respect for you. Before you make a decision, I want you to hear me out."

Sheppard must have gotten worried, eying Evan's nervousness.

"Jeez, Evan, what is it?" Sheppard said, obviously confused. "What? You have more advice for me? Fine, say it. I'll be the first to admit that I need it. But I thought I've been doing a good job with spending time with Grace. We're getting along great, now."

Evan shook his head. "No. I mean, I know. Grace is really happy about that. It means a lot to her."

"Well, then what?"

Evan looked him square in the eye. "I'd like your approval. To see her, that is."

"See her?" Sheppard repeated, still confused. "See her do what? Lorne, you're going to have to be clearer than that."

Wanting the entire ordeal to be over, Evan just quickly put it in the clearest of terms.

"I'm in love with your sister," Evan bluntly blurted out, not believing the words that had tumbled out of his mouth.

Holding his breath, Evan eyed his commanding officer.

Sheppard wasn't blinking. In fact, he looked stunned.

"Sheppard?" Evan said, hating the wait time. "Did you hear me?"

"Yes, I heard you," Sheppard blinked. Standing up, he walked away for a minute before whirling around. "Is this a joke? Is Ronon over there, waiting to laugh at my reaction?"

Evan stood as well. Not saying anything, he waited for the inevitable.

Sheppard swore after figuring out Evan was serious.

"How long has this been going on?" He asked in a agitated voice, walking closer and running a hand half-haphazardly through his hair. "And how? I've been with her as much as you."

Evan exhaled a big breath and shrugged. "It just happened. In the beginning, I was just looking out for her... like you ordered us to do. But we started spending so much time training together. And then she wasn't happy when things with the two of you weren't working out. We started talking more often. And then it just happened last night."

Deadly calm, Sheppard closed the remaining difference between them. He gripped Evan's shirt.

"Clarify 'it just happened.'"

It was Evan's turn to be confused. Thinking fast, his eyes suddenly widened. "No. God, Sheppard. Nothing like that."

Sheppard's grip loosened.

"What I mean to say is that we talked last night. Both of us feel the same about each other." Evan spoke quickly. "But before we move forward with anything else, I told Grace that I wanted your okay."

His look still deadly, Sheppard starred him in the eye. "So nothing besides 'talking happened?'"

Evan hesitated.

Not needing to hear anything else, Sheppard swung back and plowed his fist into Lorne's jaw.

Evan took the blow, but kept on his feet. Hands raised, he wiggled his jaw back and forth.

"Okay, I'll take that one," Evan acknowledged. "I kissed her. But hear me out."

Sheppard wasn't listening. Shaking his fist, which he'd neglected to tighten before hitting his second in command, was obviously throbbing. With his good hand, walked away a few paces.

"I don't want to hear it, major," Sheppard called out.

Evan was determined not to take another shot. He wanted to talk this out.

"Look, I get it. More than you know. I have a sister."

Sheppard began to walk back to Evan, obviously sorting everything out in his head and not listening to a word he was saying.

Preparing to defend himself, he was surprised when Sheppard's body jerked toward him and then a few moments later, crumbled to the ground. At the last moment, Evan caught him and fell to the ground himself.

A dart was sticking in Sheppard's back.

Evan quickly yanked out the dart. Before he could grab his weapon, a dart hit him in the arm. Moving to pull it out, he fumbled a bit as he began to lose consciousness. Another hit him in his arm. Unable to hold himself up, he pitched forward as he still tried to remain conscious. Losing the battle, he felt himself go under.

* * *

Sorry again for stopping in an odd place. I needed to break up the next chapter. It helps, lately, for me to write in smaller chunks.

This chapter made me nervous to write after hearing reviews of how people were looking forward to it. Hope everyone liked it! Sheppard and Evan's conversation is not over yet.

Thanks for everyone sticking around with the story! I think I'll be able to end it with the next chapter. Will post it as soon as I can!


	18. Chapter 18

Sorry this chapter took longer than the others. I will be posting another for the ending... couldn't quite get it all into one chapter. Hope you enjoy it!

* * *

"Lorne." A distant voice came through the fog in Evan's head. "Hey. Wake up."

Evan groaned. The voices coming from nearby sounded as if he was hearing them from underwater.

"Lorne."

The determined voice continued. At the same time, he heard another name.

"Sheppard. Come on."

Evan lifted his eyelids, only to groan. He felt a wave of dizziness come on and shut his eyes again until it passed.

"Lorne's coming out of it," someone said. "Sheppard looks like he's thinking about it."

"We need a plan," another voice said. A scientist, he guessed. "Or else the rest of us will be unconscious. Permanently, that is."

The sense of urgency in the voice forced Evan to ignore the remaining grogginess and pull himself up.

"Easy," a voice said. Evan recognized it as one his team.

"I don't understand," Evan heard McKay remark. "Why are the both of them the last to come out of it?"

Evan opened his eyes. It took him a moment to adjust to his surroundings. A holding cell. Remembering the darts and the attack, Evan rose to his feet.

"Status report, someone," he said in as strong of a voice as possible, assuming Sheppard was still unconscious.

His jaw ached. He moved it back and forth. More memories from the attack flashed in his mind.

"We were captured," McKay blurted out. "Obviously."

Sheppard's eyes began to open more. He grimaced, bore down, and rose to his feet as well.

"Rodney, spare us the crankiness," Sheppard said. He shook his head. "Last thing I remember was getting hit by something bigger than Jennifer's needles."

If anyone who didn't know of their relationship noticed his informality in addressing the CMO, they didn't bring it up.

Sheppard, as if remembering more, shot a look at Evan. He looked down at his hand, opening and closing it gingerly.

"What?" Ronon said. He looked at Sheppard and then glanced back at Lorne. "None of us had any chance to stop the attack. Who was it?"

Sheppard just shook his head, yanking angrily at his vest. "I didn't see them."

Ronon, despite his crankiness for being locked up, took another look at Evan.

"Lorne, did you see anything?" Ronon asked.

"Negative," Evan responded, remembering the conversation he'd had with Sheppard. "Why don't we formulate a plan?"

Everyone was silent. Slowly, all eyes fixated onto McKay.

"Oh, come on," McKay said. "You're all military. Figure it out yourselves for once."

"McKay, haven't you been around the past few years?" Sheppard pointed it. "You come up with the plan. We risk our lives to carry it out."

Evan took in their surroundings. The cell looked solid. Two guards sat just outside the room. Each bore no weapons that were visible. Then he did a head count.

"Teyla," Evan spoke out. "Where is she?"

"Negotiating," Ronon responded, clearly in displeasure. "As soon as we woke up, she demanded to see someone to talk about our release."

Sheppard swore. "Why didn't she wait for me?"

"You were sleeping. Quite soundly, in fact," Rodney smirked.

Sheppard glanced at Ronon. "If she doesn't succeed, what do you think?"

Ronon nodded. "It shouldn't be a problem. Security seems to be light. They missed two of my knives."

"You're armed?" Sheppard asked. He visibly relaxed. "Alright, things are sounding better by the minute."

Silence greeted his words. Evan, typically a patient man, didn't take well to the wait time. It took him a few moments to realize Ronon was staring at him.

"It still amuses me that two of the toughest of the group were the last to wake up," Rodney wondered. "Are you both typically sensitive to sedation back home?"

Sheppard and Evan didn't respond.

"I take it your talk didn't go well," Ronon guessed, leaning against the wall by Evan and hiking foot up in support.

Evan gave him a glare while Sheppard zeroed in on his friend.

"You knew?" he asked in disbelief.

Ronon chuckled. "So did your girlfriend. Again."

Evan's teammates watched the two as if watching a tennis match. At the word "girlfriend," they all looked at each other.

"Seriously." John stated. "You're a lousy friend lately, Ronon."

"What?" McKay asked, sensing the tension from Sheppard.

Ronon's mouth twitched. He looked at Evan. "You let him hit you?"

"Ronon, now is probably not the best time to go into this," Evan murmured.

"You hit Lorne?" McKay asked incredulously. "Why?"

By now, everyone's attention was focused on the two men.

"None of your business, McKay. And the major is correct. This is _not _the time."

"Of course," murmured McKay, "The adrenaline. That's what knocked you guys out longer than us. But why were you fighting? What did Lorne do? Hit on your sister?"

Evan closed his eyes. His reaction gave him away.

"Really?" McKay asked in disbelief. "I was right?"

"McKay. Zip it," Sheppard ordered. "What is with you lately?"

Rodney, however, was enjoying himself.

Ronon must've felt sorry for Sheppard. "McKay's ticked because he didn't make a move before you did."

It took a few moments for Sheppard to understand Ronon's words.

"What?" Sheppard said, then shook his head. "That's why you've been such a jerk lately?"

Rodney flustered. "I did not like her," he said. "Yes, yes, I thought she was attractive, but it didn't make me run down to her every time I had a nick on my finger."

Evan saw his team's eyes widened as they watched the exchange. None of them seemed concerned any longer that they were locked up. Except the scientists. They didn't look like they cared about anything but getting out of the cell.

Evan didn't blame them. For several reasons.

Sheppard, remembering his original agitation with his second-in-command, returned his eyes on him. Despite their personal business, his CO pushed it aside.

"One of us can take whoever returns Teyla," Sheppard planned. "They'll expect more of a fight from Ronon anyway. Ronon, give us one of your knives."

Avoiding the occasional watchful eye of the guard, Ronon dropped one next to Evan.

"Not much of a plan," Ronon remarked.

Sheppard snorted. "I'm thinking if they missed your knives, we're not dealing with the smartest of captors."

A silence fell over the group.

"Anyone bring cards?"one of Evan's team asked.

"Smith, this is hardly the time for games," Rodney said, looking annoyed. And since he was in a lousy mood, he kept talking. "So Lorne's got the hots for-"

"Rodney," Sheppard and Evan both warned.

"What?" Rodney said. "Oh, like you guys can keep the either secret going for much longer, anyway."

At that moment, Teyla returned.

"We are free to go," she announced.

The scientists sagged in relief. Ronon looked disappointed in there not being a fight.

One glance at Sheppard told Evan that their CO did as well.

The guards opened the door and the group rose to leave.

"Except," Teyla word's made them pause. "Two of us. And they forbid myself or Ronon to stay."

Sheppard whipped his head up. "What? Why?"

Teyla glared slightly at the guard. "It seems these people are in need of men who can fight. They have graciously admitted that they do not need all of us to stay. I negotiated for _two _of us to stay."

Ronon stepped behind Sheppard and slipped the second knife into his back pocket. Feeling it, he backed away.

"Lorne and I will stay. The rest of you back to the gate," Sheppard quickly decided, knowing the both of them were now armed and knew they'd risk less injuries if just the two of them had to escape rather than the entire group.

Teyla looked at John questioningly. Evan could tell she wondered if he wanted Woolsey to send an extraction team. Sheppard shook his head slightly.

"We'll be fine, Teyla," he said in a low voice.

Evan backed up as well, moving next to him.

The men watched their people go. The guard shut the door, informing them they'd be fed soon before they were taken to the other room that housed additional men they'd "recruited."

Sheppard sighed, staring at the wall while they stood. Not looking at Evan, he spoke up.

"Plan?" he asked.

Evan already was thinking. "We're both armed," he said under his breath. "It shouldn't be much trouble to overcome the guard when he comes for us."

Sheppard nodded.

They were instructed to back away from the cell door when their food came. One look showed it wasn't appetizing. Neither of them made a move for a tray.

Resigned that they'd be waiting a bit, Sheppard walked to the other side of the cell and sat. Evan did as well. They sat in silence for at least five minutes before Sheppard spoke up.

"Why her?" Sheppard asked.

Evan sat straighter.

"Sheppard, you know me well enough to know this isn't something I planned to happen," Evan explained. "Falling for the ranking officer's sister is not something any sane military man would want to do."

Sheppard mulled over his response.

Then he looked directly at Evan. "If I told you no, what would you do?"

Evan expected that question.

"Then I'd ask you to tell me one good reason why you don't think I'm good enough for her," he said, clearly surprising the other man.

Sheppard looked at his hands. "It's not that I don't think you're good enough-"

"Then what?" Evan said, knowing he was getting somewhere.

Sheppard rocked back and leaned against the wall. "Alright. I'll admit it. I don't have a reason."

Evan gave a slight smile. "Sure you do."

"Lorne, you're not helping yourself if _you _are the one to give me a reason."

"The reason," Evan said as he stood up, not wanting to sit any longer, "is simply that she's your sister."

John narrowed his eyes. "I guess I'd be the one helping you out if I was to say that's not a good reason."

Evan smiled. "I told you I have one of my own. And she's married."

Sheppard snorted. "How'd you let that happen?"

"Because she threatened to kick my butt if I caused any trouble," Evan laughed. "You don't know my sister."

"And you just backed down?"

"No," Evan replied, offended. "Of course not. I compromised. I _allowed_ the guy to marry her. But let's just say I put the fear of God into him before he walked down the aisle."

Sheppard coughed. "I can't see you doing that."

Evan grinned. "It wasn't nearly as bad as when they announced they were pregnant a year later."

Sheppard looked confused.

"You see," Evan explained. "I have this vision that my sister is still running around in pigtails. She's not a woman yet in that world... and doesn't know anything about things I'd never imagine her to do. So when they said they were pregnant, that world shattered for me."

"And let me guess... you nailed the guy," Sheppard said.

"In the disguise of a sparring match," Evan admitted. "He's ex-Army and we hit the gym when I visit."

"Nice," Sheppard grinned.

Their conversation was cut short as the guard stood to open their cell door.

"Time to bust out of here," Sheppard murmured.

* * *

Thank you for having an interest in this story and for your patience with my irregular postings! Like I said, one more chapter to go!

Would anyone like to see another story (shorter, though) with Grace and Evan? Let me know what you think. I'm going to finish up that Cam/Jen story first, but wondered if there's interest.


	19. Chapter 19

Grace heard the knocking on her door and considered not answering it. John and Evan's scheduled check in time had passed hours ago. When she went in search of someone who could tell if her that was unusual, Grace saw several worried looks pass between military officers as she questioned them.

One of the men promised to let her know if either teams returned through the gate. Hoping it was one of them, she opened the door.

"Hey," Jennifer said, walking in her room immediately. "Before you ask, no, I haven't heard a thing. I just can't stand this waiting and figured misery loves company. Mind if I stay a bit?"

"Of course," Grace immediately replied. "I'm glad you came."

Grace shut the door and they both sat down on the bed.

"Does this happen often?" Grace asked. "Them being late?"

She shrugged. "Occasionally. But I still worry. I think John mentioned to you that there was a possibility of a problem on this planet."

"Yeah, he mentioned it," Grace sighed. "I wish he hadn't. I wouldn't be as worried."

Jennifer agreed.

"However, they've never let us down yet. Sheppard and Lorne's team has nine lives when it comes to surviving impossible circumstances."

Grace didn't feel any better.

"I guess I'll need to get used to this, huh?"

Jennifer nodded. "Unfortunately."

* * *

Hours later, McKay dialed the gate and the two teams returned without their commanding officers.

Despite the late hour, Woolsey was waiting for them in the control room. His usual crisp appearance was somewhat rumpled. Ronon noticed the man's brief look of relief transform to worry when he didn't see the remaining two people he expected come through the gate.

"Ronon," Woolsey called out. "Where are Sheppard and Lorne?"

Just as Ronon was about to open his mouth, he saw Jennifer rush through the entrance way with Grace just behind her.

"They were captured with the rest of us," Ronon said quickly. "We were released and led back to the gate."

He gave another sympathetic look toward the women.

"Don't worry, both Sheppard and Lorne shouldn't have a problem escaping," he said, giving the women something positive to hold on to. "Both of them have weapons the guards missed when searching us."

Ronon explained that the people who had the men were not much of a threat against Atlantis' manpower and weapons.

Woolsey continued to stand above the two teams. He noticed none of them had budged more than a few steps away from the gate.

"I'm guessing you want to go back?" Woolsey asked unnecessarily. Without waiting for a response, he radioed for a few men to re-equip the teams with weapons, along with food, and walked down to give the final orders to Ronon and the others.

* * *

Evan walked through the cell door first. Waiting for Sheppard's cue, he turned and waited for an opportunity to arise. Sure enough, the guard, who loosely held a weapon similar to a Wraith stunner, took his eyes off the men for one moment. Both men jumped on the guard, overpowering him within moments. Evan grabbed the stunner and knocked it over the man's head, sending him to the ground.

"Well," Sheppard grunted, shoving the man into the cell. "That wasn't hard."

"He'll be out for a while," Evan agreed. "I just wish Teyla could've given us a hint as to how many others we'll have to deal with."

They each pulled out the knives Ronon had given to them. Now armed with a stunner, both men looked confident that they'd reach freedom soon. The problem, however, was finding their way out of the dark labyrinth of tunnels where the cell had been located.

Minutes later, they came upon two more guards. As easily as they'd done before, Evan and Sheppard each disarmed the men and effectively knocked both out. Picking up an additional stunner, and discovering Ronon's gun, they looked at each other.

"I don't want to jinx anything, but-" Sheppard began.

"Agreed. Don't say anything yet," Evan huffed. "Wait till we're through the gate."

Sheppard have a small smile. "Lady luck seems to be on my side when I'm not on a mission with Jennifer."

Evan snorted. "And you'd be smart not to repeat that to her."

"You have a need to give me a lot of advice lately, Lorne," Sheppard said. "Come on. Let's get out of here."

Two more battles later, they navigated through several passageways before they were able to slip out of a window and ran to the treeline. Only then, they heard the tell-tale sounds of stunners.

"Crap," John hissed. "Shouldn't have said anything."

Evan wisely didn't respond.

John yelled out a warning as a shot almost landed on him.

"Why'd they use dart guns on us if they had Wraith weapons this entire time?" Evan huffed as they ran.

"Easy," Sheppard returned. "The darts are quiet. Stunners would've alerted us to their presence."

They continued to run, jumping over fallen tree trunks and other obstacles in the way. When they stopped hearing shouts of the men chasing them, they found themselves almost to the village where they'd began their journey the previous day.

"Think they'll still be friendly knowing we have the crazy forest men on our trail?" Evan asked as they began to slow slightly.

"From what I can gather, the villagers outnumber them in numbers... and brain power. I think it's a safe bet."

Just as Sheppard said the statement, two men jumped in front of them.

Men from the village that Sheppard immediately recognized faced them.

"Hold on," he breathed. "We were here yesterday. Friends from Atlantis, remember?"

The two men continued pointing their weapons at them until another voice could be heard from behind them.

"Stand down," the voice said, revealing a man emerging from the trees. "He speaks the truth."

As the man came forward, Evan recognized him as someone who'd spoken extensively to Teyla and Sheppard.

"We were captured overnight," Sheppard explained. "Should've taken you nice folks up on the lodging for the night."

The man nodded.

"That group try to get their hands on anyone who comes through the gate," he said. "They're smart enough to not come close to our village. Come on. Let's get you cleaned up and fed and we'll send you back to your people."

Evan and Sheppard looked at each other.

"Don't say it, sir," Evan warned. "Not till we're through the gate."

Sheppard rolled his eyes, following the three men to the village.

"Lorne, what's it going to take for you not to "sir" me so much? I mean, what if you end up marrying my sister?"

Evan's face lost some of its color, causing Sheppard to laugh.

"If you could only see yourself, major," Sheppard continued to laugh. "Wasn't expecting me to come at you with that, huh?"

Evan wiped his forehead of the sweat that had formed during their escape.

"And does that mean I have your blessing? For _dating_ Grace, that is?" Evan asked, immediately clarifying his question.

"We'll see," Sheppard replied, accepting the offer of food from the man as they entered a building.

* * *

Sheppard and Evan had to firmly, but politely, leave the kind people who insisted on making sure they were fed well before leaving the planet. Several elders felt terrible that they'd been captured despite the fact that it wasn't their fault. The wives had ushered them into a bath house and insisted they bathe while the food was being prepared. Later, they were given fresh clothes and forced to eat until their plates were clean.

"I feel guilty," Sheppard muttered, hurrying back to the gate. "They're all going to be worried back there and here we are..."

"Getting pampered by a bunch of nice old ladies," Evan finished for him. "I know."

They had about a mile left of their walk when they heard a shout from the east. Both men tensed, until John began to grin.

"I recognize that voice."

"Hey!" McKay called out. "We came to rescue you."

John quickly brought the teams up to speed on how they escaped. Although they were impressed how easy the men were able to get away, neither team dropped their guard as they proceeded to the gate.

Ronon grinned at the men several minutes later. "Knew you'd be fine. But Grace and Jen were worried."

McKay rolled his eyes. "That, and you were ticked that they stole your gun."

"Speaking of that," Sheppard said slyly, "I'm wondering if you deserve to get it back."

Ronon saw his weapon hanging from John's side.

He grinned. "Still ticked off, huh?" Ronon could've easily battled it out, but played along. "How about this? To make up for everything, I'll offer you my services? If Lorne messes this thing up with Grace, I'll help you kill him."

Sheppard gave off a surprised laugh. Handing over the gun, he looked pointedly at Evan.

"Deal."

McKay rolled his eyes as the two teams continued the trek back to the gate.

"Wait, so you're going to let Lorne date Grace?" McKay said in surprise. "I'm surprised, Sheppard. I wouldn't let either of you near my sister."

Sheppard snorted. "I know. You told me already."

"Well," McKay said thoughtfully, "I guess it'll be fun watching your reaction the first time you catch them making out in the hallway. Or worse,-"

"McKay!" Teyla reprimanded.

Sheppard paused for a moment.

"Lorne!" Sheppard called out over to him. "Fall back with me a minute. We need to talk about some ground rules."

Ronon and McKay snickered, earning a disapproving glance from Teyla.

Evan slowed down until the rest of the men had passed him and began walking with Sheppard.

"Look," Sheppard said awkwardly. "You're a good man, Lorne. And I really don't have a problem with you and Grace. Just-" he stopped for minute.

"Sheppard, you don't even have to say it," Evan finished for him. "You have my word that I'll treat her the way I'd want someone to treat my own sister. And you don't have to worry about anything that Rodney said."

Sheppard looked at peace with the situation. "I'll hold you to that, Lorne."

* * *

Grace heard the gate activate and walked as close to the control room as possible. It was heavily guarded, due to the two teams reporting the problem they'd encountered.

Someone ran up from behind her and grabbed her hand. Looking down, she saw the familiar hand and clasped Jennifer's hand tightly.

"They'll come through." Jennifer said in a reassuring way. "They always do."

Moments later, Lorne's team led the teams through the gate, followed by SGA-1. Sheppard and Evan were the last to walk through.

Both women sighed.

"Jerks," Jennifer muttered under her breath. "I swear John does this just to keep things exciting."

Grace barely heard her friend. Instead, she pushed her way through the armed men on the perimeter of the gate once Woolsey commanded them to stand down. She reached John first and launched herself into his arms. Hugging him fiercely around the neck, she felt him return the embrace just as tightly. She turned her head and whispered into his ear.

"Don't scare me like this again, John," she said.

He briefly pulled back. "Sorry. But it goes with the job."

"I know," she responded, then narrowed her eyes at him. "And another thing." Grace swatted his arm hard.

John looked at her in surprise and released her. "Ouch. What was that for?"

"Probably because she knows you had a lot of time to give Evan the riot act," Jennifer said with a soft smile. "Assuming you did talk to your second in command about a sensitive topic."

Seeing Jennifer, John gravitated toward her. "Seems like I'm always the last to know everything lately."

Jennifer snorted, moving closer to Sheppard as Grace gave Ronon a hug. "So, are you going to tell your sister the outcome of the conversation?"

He shook his head, pulling Jennifer snug into his arms. "I'll let the two of them work that out."

John took off his hat, covering their faces and looked questioningly into Jennifer's eyes. Understanding, she nodded. John kept the hat to hide from most of the crowd and proceeded to brush his lips against Jennifer's tentatively. Hearing a few hollers, he grinned and deepened the kiss, throwing the hat off to the side to reveal themselves to the rest of the gate room. A few gasps, several hoots, and some clapping later, they finally came up for air.

Grace stood near them next to Ronon, grinning the entire time.

"Guess you didn't notice I was missing," Evan came up from behind her.

Whirling around, she opened her arms and buried her head into his shoulder. Despite the fact that John was a few feet away, Evan held her tight, rubbing her back reassuringly that he was there and safe. At one point, he met Sheppard's eyes. Sheppard's look softened as he nodded at Lorne as if to say he was happy for them.

"One of you need to change professions," Grace joked. "I don't think my heart can handle being worried about both of you."

Knowing she wasn't serious, Evan pulled her head back. "So, we left off with you saying something pretty serious."

Grace smiled. "Now? You want to talk about this right here? With everyone surrounding us and John-"

Evan grinned, pulling her away from the crowd and into an area hidden from everyone's view.

"Better?" he grinned, wrapping his arms around her.

She nodded. "Much. I don't think I'm ready for the public display that Jen and John just put on."

"Yeah," Evan agreed. "I don't think John's ready for that either. By the way, he's okay with me dating his sister. But he's lined up Ronon to take care of me if I mess up."

Laughing, Grace briefly kissed him. "Well, then, I guess you better not mess this up."

Evan grew serious, running his palm against her cheek. "I promise I'll do my best to make you happy."

"I am happy," Grace answered back. "In fact, I've never been more happier in my life. I never expected anything beyond meeting and learning more about John. But then I met you."

"Sheppard had a good idea by bringing you here," Evan said, brushing his lips against hers one final time. "And if I want to remain living, I better go back in there."

Grace rolled her eyes. "Are you still worried about him?"

Evan shook his head. "Not really. It's Jennifer. She gets agitated when teams don't report directly to the infirmary after a mission. But afterward..."

Grace grabbed his hand, pulling him back into the corner and gave him a long, lingering kiss. And just as he thought it was ending, she stepped closer to him and repeated it again.

"Dinner?" she suggested with her lips a fraction of an inch away as he looked back at her with a dazed expression. "Somewhere private?"

Evan shook his head to focus. "Yeah. Dinner... Brain cells are dead."

"You better get going," she laughed.

John chose that moment to poke his head around the corner. "Lorne. Come on. Jen's going to kill us if we don't follow her back."

He looked at Evan and then narrowed his gaze to Grace. "Jeez. What did you do to him? He's spacey. Lorne's never spacey."

Grace grinned, following them back through the control room. "John, I was thinking. Now that everyone knows about you and Jen, how about we double one night?"

"No," Evan and John said at the same time.

Sticking her tongue out at both of them, she laughed.

* * *

Thanks for reading and all of the reviews, story alerts, and favorites (didn't expect that!), etc.! Sorry for the delays, again. I'm leaving the story open for another one, but can't promise it'll happen. I have a few ideas, but it's just getting the time to do it. Life is fun, but crazy, right now.

Next story (Cam/Jen) will be 100% done and will be published regularly, I promise. Hoping to work on getting it completed soon.


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